Kerry set to meet Russian FM amid concerns over Syria talks

Secretary of State John Kerry is hoping to move aside obstacles that threaten to delay the start of peace talks to end Syria's war, seeking compromise with Russia's foreign minister on which Syrian opposition groups should be eligible to participate.
     
Kerry will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Zurich on Jan. 20. After attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Kerry will head to Riyadh to discuss the same issue with top Saudi officials. Last weekend he was in Austria sealing the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran.
     
Russia and Iran, which back Syrian President Bashar Assad, have severe differences with Saudi Arabia, other Arab states, the United States and Europe over which opposition groups should be considered terrorists and not allowed to be part of an 18-month political transition process that the U.N. has endorsed. One dispute is over the groups Ahrar-as-Sham and Jaish al-Islam, which Russia and Syria consider "terrorists" but Saudi Arabia, the United States and others view as legitimate opposition groups.
     
The dispute is threatening to delay the planned Jan. 25 start of U.N.-meditated peace talks.
     
"We're not unmindful of the fact that there still remains differences of opinion, and that this is a complicated process and that there is still quite a bit of work that needs to be done to get the meeting to occur," State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday. "But it's our hope that this can continue to move forward, and that we can have this meeting on the 25th."
     
On Jan. 18, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged countries supporting opposing sides in the Syrian conflict to redouble efforts to reach agreement on the list of eligible opposition groups. Ban's...