OREANDA-NEWS  Moscow maintains contacts with partners in the region on the situation in Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"We have consistently advocated the consolidation of international efforts in the interests of a comprehensive settlement of the crisis in Syria... The urgency of these tasks - very complex, very difficult ones - has increased even more in the light of the recent tragic events in western Syria, which were also assessed (by Russia). We maintain active contacts in order to long-term stabilize the situation in Syria with our partners in the region - with the Arab states, with Turkey, with Iran," Zakharova said at her briefing.