LOUGH ERNE, Britain, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday held here face-to-face talks on Syria on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Lough Erne, Britain.
At a press conference after their two-hour talks, the two leaders admitted they had big differences on Syria, but they agreed to push for a summit in Geneva, Switzerland.
"Our positions do not fully coincide, but we are united by the common intention to end the violence, to stop the number of victims increasing in Syria, to resolve the problems by peaceful means, including the Geneva talks," said Putin.
"We agreed to push the process of peace talks and encourage the parties to sit down at the negotiation table, organize the talks in Geneva," he said.
"With respect to Syria, we do have differing perspectives on the problem but we share an interest in reducing the violence and securing chemical weapons and ensuring that they're neither used nor are they subject to proliferation," Obama said.
He said the two leaders had instructed their teams to work on a peace conference about Syria in Geneva.
The United States announced it would begin arming Syria's opposition forces because it has proof chemical weapons were used against the rebels. But Russia has dismissed the claims, saying they're based on flimsy evidence.
The G8 summit is taking place at the Lough Erne resort with the launch of formal negotiations on a free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States.
On the summit's agenda are three key issues: advancing trade; ensuring tax compliance; promoting greater transparency. But Syria crisis also dominates the summit.
The group attending the event is made up of the leaders of the United States, Russia, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Canada.
BERLIN, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Europe will "pay the price" if it sends arms to Syrian rebel forces, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned on Monday in an interview with a German newspaper.
"If the Europeans deliver weapons, then Europe's backyard will become terrorist and Europe will pay the price for that," the Syrian president said in the interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. Full story
MOSCOW, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Moscow will not allow the imposition of a no-fly zone over the conflict-ravaged Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
"Russia sees no necessity of introducing such measures and considers them counter-productive," spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters. Full story
WASHINGTON, June 14 (Xinhua) -- No-fly zone is not a "silver bullet" to stop the bloody conflict in Syria, the White House Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said Friday.
Rhodes made the remarks while addressing a White House news briefing.Full story
MOSCOW, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Saturday called a resolution on Syria approved by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) biased and counterproductive.
"It is aimed against the Syrian government and ignores the crimes, which the radical opposition committed," the foreign ministry said in a statement.Full story
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