DHAKA: The US and Russia have not bridged their differences over the issue of possible military action in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin says.

Putin said it was “counter-productive” to destabilize the situation in the Middle East.

Putin’s comments came in a news conference on the final day of the G-20 summit in St Petersburg.

US President Barack Obama had been pushing for support among leaders at the G-20 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.

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.

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.

Source: bbc
BDST: 2046 HRS, SEP 06, 2013
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