U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he wanted to use a visit to Moscow yesterday to make “real progress” in narrowing differences with Russian leader Vladimir Putin over how to end the conflict in Syria.

    Kerry is seeking to prepare the ground for a third round of talks of world powers on Syria but it was not clear if a meeting penciled in for Friday in New York would go ahead.

    Russia and the United States have not reached agreement over the role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in any political transition or over which rebel groups should be part of talks.

    “I look forward to making real progress,” Kerry said at the start of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Kerry was expected to meet Putin later yesterday.

    Russia, one of Assad’s staunchest allies, has launched a campaign of air strikes that it said targeted Islamic State militants but which also supported Assad’s forces. The Kremlin says the Syrian people, and not external powers, should decide Assad’s political fate.

    Lavrov told Kerry there was a need for more effective international cooperation in fighting terror. “On that route there are still questions which today we need to look at,” Lavrov said.

    Kerry’s visit follows a meeting last week in Riyadh which agreed to unite a number of opposition groups, not including Islamic State, to negotiate with Damascus in peace talks.

    The Kremlin rejected the results of the Riyadh meeting, saying some of the groups were considered terrorists.

    Kerry’s talks in Moscow will delve deeper into details of a planned Jan. 1 cease-fire in Syria.  (SD-Agencies)