Kerry says he will meet Putin in Moscow soon

US Secretary of State John Kerry says he will visit Moscow next week for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.

Kerry made the announcement on the sidelines of the Paris climate talks on Wednesday, acknowledging that Moscow "has been constructive" in trying to find a political solution to end the Syrian conflict, according to Reuters.

"I’m ... traveling to Moscow in a week and will be meeting with him (Putin) and with Foreign Minister Lavrov on the subject of Syria and on Ukraine," the top American diplomat said. "They have helped us in this process. Russia has been constructive in helping the Vienna process to take place, to be successful, and I think they want a political settlement there."

This will be Kerry’s second visit to Moscow this year. He met Putin in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi in May and has often met with Lavrov during various international events.

The Moscow talks will probably take place ahead of a possible meeting in New York on December 18, which will be trying to push forward the Syrian political process.

Kerry said on Tuesday that the international meeting on ending the Syrian conflict may be held next week, but details about who should represent militant groups fighting in Syria are still being ironed out.

The United States and Russia are the main sponsors of the talks, which aim to mediate a ceasefire between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and Takfiri militants fighting against the government.

Last month, the Syrian peace talks in Vienna yielded an agreement between officials from Russia, the US, Iran and several European and Middle Eastern countries, on a two-year timeline leading to Syrian national elections.

It is not yet clear if Kerry’s visit will signal any changes in Washington’s stance on the Ukrainian conflict. The US has so far been siding with the Kiev government, a position that was echoed by Vice President Joe Biden during his recent visit to Ukraine.

"If Russian aggression persists, the cost imposed on Moscow will continue to rise," Biden said Tuesday in an address to the Ukrainian Parliament on the second day of his visit to Kiev. 

The United Nations says more than 9,000 people have been killed as a result of the clashes between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian forces since the start of the conflict in eastern Ukraine in April 2014.

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