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| U.S., Russia agree on new Syria initiatives |
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In a telephone conversation, the two leaders highlighted the recent “substantive and constructive consultations” by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the German capital, Berlin over a political transition in Syria, the White House said in a statement on Friday.
The statement did not elaborate further on the discussion between Obama and Putin on the Syrian unrest.
The development comes shortly after the UN and Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said that the solution to the Syrian crisis at the United Nations depended on an agreement between the U.S. and Russia.
“Such an agreement may be a hope for the solution of the Syrian crisis,” Brahimi said on Thursday.
This is while as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Friday that he believed U.S. policy of giving only “non-lethal support” to Syria’s opposition was the correct one.
In a meeting of the so-called “Friends of Syria” group in the Italian capital, Rome on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry promised an additional USD 60 million in aid to the opposition Syrian National Coalition headed by Moaz al-Khatib.
Kerry also said the Washington would provide direct support to militant forces in the form of medical and food supplies.
The U.S. secretary of state said the decision was aimed at increasing the pressure on Syrian President Assad to step down.
After the meeting, the European Union also announced changes to its arms embargo on Syria, allowing EU states to provide armored vehicles and technical aid to the militants fighting against the Syrian government.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
The Syrian government has said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals.
Several international human rights organizations have accused foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.
(Source: Press TV)
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.jpg "U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (file photo)")