Kerry in Moscow to urge Putin to soften Assad stance

US Secretary of State John Kerry met President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday to try to convince him to support an end to Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria. Putin had warm words for Kerry at the start of their meeting, thanking him for his “business-like” approach and hailing the United States for helping […]

US Secretary of State John Kerry met President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday to try to convince him to support an end to Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria.
Putin had warm words for Kerry at the start of their meeting, thanking him for his “business-like” approach and hailing the United States for helping broker a ceasefire in the war-torn country.
“We understand that what we have managed to achieve on Syria has only been possible thanks to the constructive position of the political leadership in the US, the position of President Obama,” Putin said.
Kerry lauded the truce between government forces and the opposition that has seen fighting drop and called to “make progress even deeper” towards finding a lasting political solution to the conflict.