Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

MOSCOW — Russia on Saturday said Syrian rebels were preparing a chemical attack in Idlib province which will be blamed on Damascus and used as a pretext for Western powers to hit government targets in the war-torn country.

Monday on CNN’s “At This Hour,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said while he was in Russia he told “wise-ass” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to “stop screwing with American elections.” Kennedy said, “I went for two reasons. Number one, to deliver a

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said foreign militias should leave southwestern Syria as soon as possible, state media outlet TASS reported.

North Korean media reported on Wednesday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will “soon” visit Pyongyang for a meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho. The Russian Foreign Ministry subsequently announced that Lavrov would make the trip on Thursday, following up on an invitation Ri issued in early April.

Israel has asked Moscow not to supply the Syrian military with advanced S-300 missile systems, according to a Russian diplomat. An Israeli government spokesman declined comment on the claim that was made by the Russian diplomat on condition on anonymity.

ROME, Italy — Saudi Arabia and Iran have exported their bitter regional tussle to Rome, accusing each other of villainous meddling in the Middle East during diplomacy talks in the Italian capital.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, on the first official trip to Russia by a ruler of the oil-rich Sunni powerhouse, was set to meet President Vladimir Putin to discuss energy contracts despite discord over the Syrian conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov directly challenged US President Donald Trump’s tough stance on Iran this week during a briefing with journalists in Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to meet in Moscow was still in force.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday slammed a proposed UN resolution demanding a temporary ceasefire in Aleppo as a “provocative step.”

The question of whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed his suddenly-announced plans to overthrow the Assad regime with Russian President Vladimir Putin when the two were holding telephone conferences about the Syrian crisis last week appears to have been answered.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced concern to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday about renewed fighting and air strikes in the Syrian city of Aleppo after a break of several days, the State Department said.

Syrian and Russian warplanes carried out dozens of air strikes on rebel-held districts of Aleppo on Friday, a monitor said, as world powers prepared for new talks on a ceasefire.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said on Friday that the Syrian army’s capture of Aleppo, which has come under renewed bombardment in an effort to seize its rebel-held sector, would be “a very important springboard” to pushing “terrorists” back to Turkey.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Russian counterpart in Switzerland on Saturday to discuss Syria, officials said on Wednesday, as a devastating bombing campaign of the city of Aleppo intensified.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that Russia had the means to protect its assets in Syria if the United States decided to carpet bomb the Syrian government’s military air fields.

Syrian government and allied forces have advanced toward Aleppo, pursuing their week-old offensive to take the rebel-held part of the city after dozens of overnight air strikes.

John Kerry had heard enough. After last week’s bombing of a U.N. aid convoy in Syria dealt a death blow to a ceasefire deal in which he had invested all his diplomatic capital with Russia, the U.S. Secretary of State tossed aside a page of notes and looked at Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov across the horseshoe-shaped table in the U.N. Security Council.

Warplanes launched some of the heaviest air strikes yet on rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Friday after the Russian-backed Syrian army declared an offensive to fully capture Syria’s biggest city, killing off any hope of reviving a ceasefire.

The Obama administration and Russia have agreed to join forces in Syria against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and the Nusra Front, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria.

The Jerusalem Post reports: MOSCOW – Russia is convinced the United Nations peace mediator on Syria Staffan de Mistura should take a decision on including ethnic Kurds in Syria peace talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. Holding