Kerry to travel to France, Kuwait ahead of Syria conference

US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to France and Kuwait from Jan 11 to 15 ahead of a key peace conference on Syrian crisis, the State Department said Wednesday.

In Paris, the top US envoy will attend a ministerial meeting of the London 11, a group of countries backing the Syrian opposition, to discuss issues on Syria ahead of the Geneva II conference, which is slated for Jan 22, reported Xinhua citing State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

The London 11 comprises the US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet in Paris Jan 13 with an agenda focused on "preparations for the Geneva conference," Psaki said at a press conference Tuesday.

UN acting deputy spokesman Farhan Haq Monday expressed the hope that Kerry and Lavrov would reach an agreement on Iran's participation in the conference.