Russia's Lavrov calls on Kerry to use U.S. influence to stop Kiev's military operation

MOSCOW, May 3 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told his U.S. counterpart John Kerry that the U.S. should use its influence to make Ukraine's government immediately stop military operations in south-east Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Lavrov also said that it was important that the mediating role of the OSCE was increased to secure Kiev's fulfillment of the Geneva declaration on de-escalating tensions in Ukraine.

"Chances of this still exist," the statement said, as long as all Ukrainian regions are represented in a national dialogue on constitutional reform, and "terrorists" from the Right Sector group are curbed.

(Reporting by Jason Bush, editing by Megan Davies)