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| Syria crisis: Russia and US 'no closer' | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The US and Russia have not bridged their differences over the issue of possible military action in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin says. | The US and Russia have not bridged their differences over the issue of possible military action in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin says. |
| Mr Putin said it was "counter-productive" to destabilise the situation in the Middle East. | Mr Putin said it was "counter-productive" to destabilise the situation in the Middle East. |
| His comments came in a news conference on the final day of the G20 summit in St Petersburg. | His comments came in a news conference on the final day of the G20 summit in St Petersburg. |
| US President Barack Obama had been pushing for support among leaders at the G20 for a US strike on Syria. | US President Barack Obama had been pushing for support among leaders at the G20 for a US strike on Syria. |
| The US government accuses President Bashar al-Assad's forces of killing 1,429 people in a poison-gas attack in the Damascus suburbs on 21 August. | |
| Mr Assad has blamed rebels for the attack. China and Russia, which have refused to agree to a UN Security Council resolution against Syria, insist any action without the UN would be illegal. | |
| Mr Putin said the discussions about Syria on Thursday evening had gone on well past midnight. | Mr Putin said the discussions about Syria on Thursday evening had gone on well past midnight. |
| He added that he had a one-to-one meeting with Mr Obama in which they had discussed Syria. | |
| Both men had listened to the other's position but had not agreed, he said. | Both men had listened to the other's position but had not agreed, he said. |
| Also speaking at the end of the summit, Mr Obama said there was a "unanimous" view that chemical weapons had been used in Syria. | |
| He also said most leaders present at the summit thought it was most likely that the regime of President Assad was responsible. | |
| However, Mr Putin described the use of chemical weapons as "a provocation on the part of the militants who are expecting to get support from outside". |