Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have discussed cooperation in Syria over the phone. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura says he expects a 'clear political initiative' to come in time for this month's UN General Assembly.

"We are, and I can confirm to you, and there are some indications that you must have been seeing, planning to indicate a quite clear political initiative during the week proceeding the General Assembly. That's the right time to do it, because the next real appointment is going to be the 21 September, when in the UN, New Zealand has already, as chairman of the Security Council, indicated its intention and the secretary-general will be attending, in presence there, for a high-level meeting on Syria." UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura said.

De Mistura said the US and Russia were continuing talks at a senior military, security and diplomatic level. Syria's main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, says it's considering unveiling plans for a political transition at a meeting in London next week, in another bid to hasten an end to the five-year war.