Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura have agreed to maintain close contacts on the Syrian problem, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday after their meeting.

Axar.az reports citing TASS the sides exchanged views on the entire spectrum of issues of the Syrian settlement, the ministry said, adding that Lavrov had informed the UN envoy about the results of the November 22 meeting of the Russian, Iranian and Turkish presidents, who had supported the idea of convening a congress of the Syrian national dialogue.

"Special emphasis was made on the importance of further international efforts to launch a comprehensive intra-Syrian negotiating process on the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, with the United Nations playing the leading role," the ministry said. "The sides stressed the importance of restoring peaceful live on territories liberated from militants and terrorists, the inadmissibility of attempts at politicizing this process and using economic instruments in political purposes."

De Mistura, in turn, hailed Moscow’s efforts and shared his opinion on the Syrian opposition consultations at a recent conference in Riyadh, the ministry added.