US, Russia come up short on Syria deal; more talks Monday
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HANGZHOU -- The United States and Russia came up short Sunday on a deal to end years of brutal fighting between Syria's Russian-backed government and US-supported rebels. Negotiations were to continue Monday, even as a dispirited President Barack Obama doubted the diplomacy would ever pay off.
"We're not there yet," Obama said on the sidelines of an economic summit in China, where across town US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were trying to hash out the deal. "It's premature for us to say that there is a clear path forward, but there is the possibility at least for us to make some progress on that front."
A senior State Department official said the talks faltered on Saturday when Russia pulled back from agreement on issues the US negotiators believed had been settled. The official didn't elaborate. Kerry and Lavrov were consulting with their governments before talks resume on Monday.
