BREAKING NEWS

Russian officials to meet Assad next week in Syria

MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and foreign intelligence service chief Mikhail Fradkov will travel to Syria on Tuesday to meet President Bashar Assad, Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying in Munich on Saturday.
The statement came as Russia and Western states clash over a draft UN Security Council resolution that would support an Arab League plan calling for Assad to cede power.
Lavrov, who said President Dmitry Medvedev had instructed him and Fradkov to make the trip, gave no details about its specific purpose, the reports said.