Lavrov, Pedersen Discuss Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, in Moscow on February 23, 2022. (Photo by Handout / RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, in Moscow on February 23, 2022. (Photo by Handout / RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP)
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Lavrov, Pedersen Discuss Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, in Moscow on February 23, 2022. (Photo by Handout / RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, in Moscow on February 23, 2022. (Photo by Handout / RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has met in Moscow with the UN's special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, who is getting ready for a new round of negotiations of a committee representing the Syrian government and the opposition over draft constitutional reforms.

"We are all interested in the swiftest settlement of the Syrian crisis based on UN Security Council resolutions," Lavrov said during the talks.

"The importance of our cooperation is confirmed by the fact that we are meeting today and will aspire to achieve practical progress in the Syrian settlement,” he added.

Pedersen expressed hope that the recent world developments would not affect the situation in Syria.



Separate Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 4 People in Lebanon

Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
TT

Separate Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 4 People in Lebanon

Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)

An Israeli drone strike on Thursday hit a car at an army checkpoint in the southern port city of Sidon, killing three people and wounding several others, including Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers, Lebanon’s state news agency and the army said.

The Lebanese army said in a communique that three soldiers and four Malaysian peacekeepers were injured.

The National News Agency said one of the wounded was taken to the hospital while the peacekeepers were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the attack at the northern entrance of Sidon, Lebanon’s third-largest city. There was no immediate information on the identities of those who died.

The UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL said in a statement that a convoy bringing newly-arrived peacekeepers to south Lebanon was passing by when a drone strike took place near it. The strike lightly injured five peacekeepers, it said.
“We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence,” the statement said.

A drone strike earlier Thursday hit a car on a main highway just outside Beirut, killing one woman, according to local media.

The attack took place near Araya, where several similar drone strikes have taken place in the past week.