BREAKING NEWS

Russia sticks to support for Syria's Assad

MOSCOW - The outcome of any talks on ending the bloodshed in Syria must not be predetermined, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday, sticking to its opposition to Western and Arab pressure for President Bashar Assad to cede power.
Lavrov's remarks at a news conference in Moscow after talks with Pakistan's foreign minister suggested Russia, which vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution supporting an Arab League call for Assad to quit, has not changed its stance on Syria following a meeting with Assad in Damascus on Tuesday.