Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, held today a series of bilateral meetings in the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Hamburg.

In separate meetings, the High Representative discussed with the US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov the situation in Syria and the need to protect civilians, particularly in Aleppo, and allow humanitarian assistance in these dramatic hours. They also exchanged views on the outreach the High Representative has started with the regional actors, in close coordination with the United Nations, on the reconstruction and the future political and institutional set up of Syria, linked to the beginning of the political transition.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine was also on the agenda of the bilateral meetings Federica Mogherini had with Minister Lavrov and separately with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin. The High Representative stressed the need for a full implementation of the Minsk agreements, by all parties, and the readiness of the European Union to increase its support for their implementation.