Bolton: U.S. wields leverage in its talks with Russia on Syria

Russia is "stuck" in Syria and looking for others to fund its post-war reconstruction, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said, describing this as an opportunity for Washington to press for Iranian forces to quit the civil war-wracked country.

"And I don’t think they want to be stuck there. I think their frenetic diplomatic activity in Europe indicates that they’d like to find somebody else, for example, to bear the cost of reconstructing Syria - which they may or may not succeed in doing," Reuters cited him as saying.

Bolton said U.S. contacts with Russia did not include any understanding over a push by Damascus’s forces against the rebels in Idlib. But he warned against any use of chemical or biological weapons there.

"We’re going see what we and others can agree in terms of resolving the conflict in Syria. But the one prerequisite there is the withdrawal of all Iranian forces back in Iran," Bolton added.

Bolton will meet his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, in Geneva on August 23.