UN chief stresses need to seek political solution to Syrian conflict

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and "underscored the need to find a political solution to the conflict" in Syria, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters here.

The secretary-general made the remarks when having a working dinner with the visiting Russian foreign minister "to discuss the conflict in Syria, including the escalating humanitarian crisis and the disconcerting rise in sectarian violence," Nesirky said in a readout to the press here.

"The secretary-general underscored the need to find a political solution to the conflict and to urgently renew momentum behind the Geneva Conference on Syria," the spokesman said.

Lavrov made a stopover in New York on Thursday before his Friday talks with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry on the Syrian issue, among others, in Washington.