U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to Russia to try and narrow gaps with Russian leaders over a political transition to end Syria's civil war and restore stability in eastern Ukraine.
After spending last week at climate talks outside the French capital, Kerry leaves Paris on Monday for Moscow, where he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday.
Before departing, Kerry will attend a French-hosted foreign ministers meeting to compare notes on the results of a conference of Syrian opposition figures held last week in Saudi Arabia that are key to the peace effort.
The trip will be Kerry's second to Russia this year he met with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in May but his first since frosty relations over Ukraine were exacerbated by Moscow's intervention in Syria in late September.
President Barack Obama has seen Putin briefly twice since then at international summits in Turkey and France.