France is set to press Russia, one of embattled President Bashar al-Assad’s few allies, to change tack on the escalating conflict in Syria in talks between their foreign and defence ministers in Paris on Wednesday, Khaleej Times reports.
The ministers are also expected to tackle cooperation between Russia and NATO on an anti-missile defence system, the stand-off over Iran’s contested nuclear drive, Afghanistan and the crisis in Mali, according to French officials.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and his counterpart Sergei Lavrov and defence ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian and Anatoly Serdyukov are holding annual talks under the auspices of a joint cooperation council set up 10 years ago.
Topping the agenda is the near 20-month conflict in Syria, with the international community still deeply at odds over how to end fighting that has now killed 36,000 people, according to activists.
“On some topics we have converging stances,” French foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said.
“But on other issues, our positions are divergent. I am of course alluding to Syria,” Lalliot said.
French and Russian ministers meet on Syria
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