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Cameron to discuss Syria with Putin in Moscow
May 9, 2013, 1:36 pm

Syria [AP]

Russia and the US have agreed to facilitate a possible solution to the Syrian crisis by setting up an international conference by the end of May [AP]

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with British prime minister David Cameron on Friday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

David Cameron will be in Russia on a working visit to discuss the Syrian conflict.

“There’s an urgent need to start a proper negotiation to force a political transition and to bring this conflict to an end, and I will be flying to Sochi on Friday to meet with President Putin to discuss this issue further,” Mr Cameron told the House of Commons.

The situation in Syria was discussed earlier this week in Moscow, when US secretary of state John Kerry made an official visit.

The sides have agreed to facilitate a possible solution to the Syrian crisis by setting up an international conference by the end of May.

After Moscow, Mr Cameron will travel to Washington to meet US President Barack Obama to continue discussion of the Syrian crisis.

“Do I think putting boots on the ground in Syria, as we did in Iraq or Afghanistan is the right thing to do? No I don’t,” said the prime minister.

Cameron told members of Parliament on Wednesday he has now asked the British intelligence services to provide constant reporting on evidence that Assad’s forces were using banned chemical weapons in the conflict.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov suggested last week that UN chemical weapons inspectors examine specific allegations of chemical weapons use and accused the allies of politicising the issue.

“Under continued pressure from certain Western members of the Security Council, the general-secretary has not dispatched the experts, and I consider this absolutely unacceptable. It’s an attempt to politicise the issue,” he stated.

Syria has not signed the international Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans their use.

Daria Chernyshova