The United States is not actually contributing to the settlement in Syria, but trying to help those who are determined to change the regime in Damascus. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, RIA Novosti reports.

During a press conference, the Russian foreign minister claimed that there is probably no radical difference between the administrations of Obama and Trump. According to him, in either case, we see a desire not to help in finding the speediest solution to the conflict, but to help those who would like to launch practical steps to change the regime in the Syrian Arab Republic.

Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Negotiations on the settlement are held at the venues of Geneva and Astana. Earlier the special envoy of the Russian President Alexander Lavrentiev said that the special envoy of the UN Secretary General Staffan de Mistura is planning to hold the ninth round of talks in Geneva around 21 January.

Western countries insist on the resignation of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Russia has repeatedly stated that the fate of the current head of state should be decided only by the Syrian people.