US, Russia discuss Syria ahead of Geneva talks
By MATTHEW LEEBy MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press?
?U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. pay their respects during a flower-laying at the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad, Thursday, June 28, 2012, in St. Petersburg, Russia. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. pay their respects during a flower-laying at the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad, Thursday, June 28, 2012, in St. Petersburg, Russia. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton looks up at a monument for WWII victims in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, June 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, listens to question during his and Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalam, unseen, news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 28, 2012. Russia is denying comments by a U.S. official that it has endorsed a Syrian transition plan that includes a call for President Bashar Assad to give up power in favor of a national unity government saying that outside forces must concentrate on convincing opposition groups to soften their demands. But, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied that Thursday. "We are not supporting and will not support any external meddling,? he said. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, listens to Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalam, unseen, during their talks in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 28, 2012. Russia is denying comments by a U.S. official that it has endorsed a Syrian transition plan that includes a call for President Bashar Assad to give up power in favor of a national unity government saying that outside forces must concentrate on convincing opposition groups to soften their demands. But, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied that Thursday. "We are not supporting and will not support any external meddling,? he said. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
In this Thursday, June 28, 2012 photo, embers of the Free Syrian Army are seen in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria. Much of the violence that has gripped Syria has been sanctioned by the government to crush dissent. But rebel fighters are launching increasingly deadly attacks on regime targets, and several huge suicide bombings this year suggest al-Qaida or other extremists are joining the battle. A bomb blast rocked central Damascus on Thursday near a busy market and the country's main justice complex, wounding at least three people and sending a cloud of black smoke into the air. (AP Photo)
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) ? The top U.S. and Russian diplomats have held talks on Syria ahead of an international conference on Saturday that aims to ease Syrian President Bashar Assad from power.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met for about an hour Friday in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
Lavrov told reporters afterward that the two "are agreeing on most things."
The former Cold War foes have clashed repeatedly since violence broke out in Syria 16 months ago.
The U.S. wants Assad to leave power. Russia opposes any "external meddling" in Syrian affairs.
The U.S., Russia and other world powers are gathering in Geneva on Saturday. U.N. mediator Kofi Annan wants them to agree on a plan calling for a national unity government in Syria.
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