The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, March 19 that it hoped the visit of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to Moscow on March 23-24 would contribute to normalization of bilateral relations, Reuters reports.

"The situation in Russian-American relations remains difficult," the ministry said in a statement.

"We hope the visit of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to Russia - the third in a year - will contribute to the normalization of Russian-American relations."

It also said that resolving the Syrian conflict would be one of the key topics for discussion.