Britain, Russia to hold talks on Syria

Britain, Russia to hold talks on Syria

British Prime Minister David Cameron is in Russia for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Syria, as Britain steps up efforts to lift a European Union (EU) arms embargo on foreign-backed insurgents in the Arab country.

The two leaders met at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where they would discuss bilateral issues as well as political solutions to end the two-year crisis in Syria.

British PM’s spokesperson said Cameron would be stressing “The urgent need to start proper negotiations and to force a political transition to bring the conflict to an end”.

Cameron is also expected to hold one-to-one talks with other G8 leaders, including US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande, in coming days ahead of next month’s G8 summit in Northern Ireland.

Britain has played a major role in fanning the flames of unrest in Syria by arming and training militants fighting against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Damascus has repeatedly announced that the chaos began in March 2001 is being orchestrated from outside the country.

Moreover, there are reports that a very large number of the armed militants are foreign nationals.