Russian Foreign Minister Segey Lavrov had a phone contact with his US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed in a press release. “During the discussion of international problems Lavrov expressed regret over the US opposition to Russia’s initiative in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW] to dispatch inspectors to Syria for verifying the reports on the use of Sarin nerve gas in the town of Khan Sheykhun on April 4 and the presence of poison chemicals on the Shayrat airbase,” the ministry said. Mr. Lavrov expressed his regret over the to his US counterpart for the blocking of the Russian initiative to dispatch inspectors to Syria to verify the reports on the use of the chemical Sarin nerve gas in the town of Khan Sheyknuh on April 4, which resulted in the death of 87 people, including 31 children. The incident prompted the strike of the US with 59 cruise missiles against Syria. “Lavrov and Tillerson also agreed on kick-starting the work of a joint expert group at the level of deputy foreign ministers to tap the ways of eliminating the irritants from bilateral relations,” the report noted.