International meeting on Syria to be held soon: U.N. chief

MOSCOW, May 19 (Xinhua) -- An international conference on Syria will be held soon following consultations with the U.N. Security Council permanent members, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday.

Ban "has been actively consulting" with all relative parties to the Syria issue, including the U.S., China, Russia, Britain, France as well as others, he told the RIA Novosti news agency during his visit here.

"We are still trying to look at a window possibility in early June but this is a matter of still further consultations," said the U.N. chief.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry agreed recently that Moscow and Washington would push Damascus and the opposition to discuss a political solution to the deadly two-year-old crisis.

Ahead of Ban's Russia tour, Moscow called for an urgent international conference on Syria and objected to setting up a no-fly zone in the country.

Earlier this week, Lavrov said the a possible meeting on Syria at a ministerial level may be held in Geneva if both sides of the conflict agreed to participate in the event.

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