US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Russia of selling new combat helicopters to Syria. The Kremlin denied all the accusation and said that it is returning repaired machines. The State Department later admitted that it made hasty accusations. But the US is still concerned over the machines being used against the population, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. She added that the helicopters had been idle for about six or more months.
Nuland noted that the US and Russia continue talks on power transition from President Bashar al-Assad. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Kabul today. Positions of Russia and the US are still being discussed at the UN in New York, Moscow and Washington. They discuss the plan of UN special envoy Kofi Annan. Russia is always welcome to the Friends of Syria Group, Nuland says.
The White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the US want to continue cooperation with Russia. President Barack Obama wants to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US approve Russia as a WTO member.
