Russia Urges US-led Coalition to Strike Renamed Nusra Front as 'Terrorists'

FILE - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a news conference after a meeting on Syria with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva, Aug. 26, 2016.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday urged the U.S.-led coalition to continue viewing the Nusra Front, now renamed Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, as a terrorist organisation and to carry out strikes on its positions.

"I have a very demanding task now - not to let this list [of terrorist organizations] be reduced," Lavrov told a news conference.

"I have no reason not to trust [U.S. Secretary of State] John Kerry, but what we see on the ground [in Syria] is that the coalition is very reluctant to strike the positions of the Nusra Front."

Lavrov also said he would demand that the Russia-U.S. agreement on cessation of hostilities in Syria, reached on Sept. 9, be published in full.