- Title: Kerry headed to Paris for another Syria meeting - Steinmeier
- Date: 8th December 2016
- Summary: HAMBURG, GERMANY (DECEMBER 8, 2016) (REUTERS) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "It is also necessary, because we have to continue our efforts after the tensions I have reported and after the European security framework has been clearly touched and breached, at the latest with the annexation of Crimea, that we have to think more intensively about how we can preserve freedom and security in Europe and furthermore how we can withstand threats like terrorism, extremism, cyber criminality, threats of the 21st century." REPORTERS LISTENING VARIOUS OF STEINMEIER SEEN IN WINDOW OF TRANSLATION BOOTH (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "It's not that it [arms control] has to be newly invented. We have an arms control architecture in Europe and that was even a well-balanced one that for years, one could even say decades, was a guarantor for freedom and stability in Europe, but cracks in this architecture have become visible in recent years, partly because arms control and transparency - the instruments we have - are obsolete, partly also because the realities of security policies have completely changed. This was the reason why I proposed in summer to try a restart of the conventional arms control." CAMERAS STEINMEIER SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "Regarding John Kerry, it is no surprise. He has announced it - we are currently organising a further meeting on Syria after this OSCE meeting in Paris on Saturday - for this he went to Paris this afternoon." CAMERAS STEINMEIER LEAVING
- Embargoed: 23rd December 2016 16:10
- Keywords: Germany OSCE Syria Kerry Paris Ukraine Europe arms control
- Location: HAMBURG, GERMANY
- City: HAMBURG, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVA0015C0YVK7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday (December 8) left a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to head to Paris for further meetings on Syria on Saturday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters.
"Regarding John Kerry, it is no surprise. He has announced it - we are currently organising a further meeting on Syria after this OSCE meeting in Paris on Saturday - for it he went to Paris this afternoon," Steinmeier said at the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council in the northern German city of Hamburg.
Kerry told reporters after a second bilateral meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Hamburg that he was "hopeful" about reaching an accord with Moscow that would allow Syrian rebels to safely leave the besieged city of Aleppo.
France, a backer of the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is convening foreign ministers of like-minded countries in Paris on Saturday to seek a strategy in the wake of the Aleppo onslaught, although few diplomats expect anything concrete to be achieved.
During the news conference in Hamburg, Steinmeier also spoke about the conflict in Ukraine.
"It is also necessary, because we have to continue our efforts after the tensions I have reported and after the European security framework has been clearly touched and breached, at the latest with the annexation of Crimea, that we have to think more intensively about how we can preserve freedom an security in Europe and furthermore how we can withstand threats like terrorism, extremism, cyber criminality, threats of the 21st century," he said.
He also underlined his proposal for a restart of Europe's arms control mechanisms, calling the current instrument in place "obsolete". - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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