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                UN Chief Discusses Syria with Russian Officials

   United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is in Russia, where he has
   said it is important not to "lose momentum" in talks on setting up a
   peace conference on Syria next month.
   Mr. Ban is in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi to meet with Russian
   President Vladimir Putin for talks on Syria. Earlier Friday, he met
   with Defense Minister Sergei Lavrov.
   Russia has been pushing for inclusion of Syrian ally Iran and western
   ally Saudi Arabia in those talks, while accusing the United States of
   trying to narrow the field of participants.
   Also Friday, the New York Times reported Friday that Russia has sent
   more advanced anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria. At the same time,
   Russia says it has no interest in seeing Mr. Assad remain in power.
   On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister
   Recep Tayyip Erdogan said they will keep pressure on Syria`s president
   to step down.
   Mr. Obama said at a joint White House news conference that he and Mr.
   Erdogan agree that President Bashar al-Assad should hand over power to
   a transitional body.
   Mr. Erdogan said Turkey and the United States also plan to keep
   supporting the Syrian opposition and prevent Syria from becoming a
   terrorist haven.
   Turkey has called for toppling Mr. Assad with more aggressive steps
   such as a no-fly zone and directly arming Syrian rebels. The Obama
   administration has been reluctant to take those actions, limiting the
   U.S. to humanitarian aid and non-lethal support to the opposition.
   Mr. Obama says the United States will keep helping Turkey shoulder the
   burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees from the
   civil war. He said Turkey will play an important role in the planned
   Syria peace conference.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/un-chief-discusses-syria-with-russian
   -officials/1662809.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/un-chief-discusses-syria-with-russian-officials/1662809.html