ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said Western states must convince the Syrian opposition to attend proposed talks with President Bashar Assad's government in Geneva and expressed hope the conference would take place "as soon as possible".
"Russia took on the responsibility of convincing the Syrian leadership. We did our part. It is up to our partners, who must convince the opposition to do the same," Putin said at a joint news conference after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
