Russia's Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson discuss Syrian conflict

A still image taken from a video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on June 23, 2017, shows bombs hitting what Defence Ministry said were Islamic State targets in Hama province, Syria. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via REUTERS TV

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discussed by telephone on Monday the need to cement the ceasefire regime in Syria, in particular on the basis of peace talks conducted in the Kazakh capital Astana.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that Lavrov had urged Tillerson to use his influence to prevent "provocations" against Syrian government forces in the conflict. Russia is a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.