Russia to urge Syria opposition to talk to government

Russia will call on the Syrian opposition to negotiate with the ruling authorities, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday. Representatives of the Syrian opposition will visit Moscow for talks on June 27. Moscow has been concerned by recent claims by the Syrian opposition that it would not hold talks with the government, Lavrov said. "This is the wrong position; it is absolutely at odds with the aim of defusing the situation," Lavrov said. "We will urge the Syrian opposition to take a share in the responsibility for its country and respond to the steps taken, albeit belatedly, to implement reforms," he said. France and Germany said on Friday they would put a resolution condemning Syria to the vote at the UN Security Council. Russia has said it may veto the vote. Syrian rights organizations have estimated that some 1,300 people have been killed and more than 10,000 arrested in Syria since protests demanding the end of President Bashar al-Assad's authoritarian rule broke out in the country in mid-March. Foreign journalists are banned from entering the country which makes it difficult to verify the figures.