Clinton, Lavrov Hold 'Constructive' Talks on Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday held "constructive" talks with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov over a draft U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria's crackdown, officials said.

The pair agreed that diplomatic teams from both countries would "continue to consult" on the draft in New York, said State Department spokesman Mark Toner, amid a U.S. push for passage of the resolution.

A senior State Department official said Friday the United States was "cautiously optimistic" Russia would support the draft resolution.

The latest draft does not explicitly call on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down or mention an arms embargo or sanctions, though it "fully supports" an Arab League plan to facilitate a democratic transition.

"From our perspective, this meets the objective of supporting the demands of the Syrian people and the Arab League ... providing a peaceful Syrian-led political path forward," the State Department official said.

"This is the kind of resolution the entire council should support and the secretary and Ambassador Susan Rice are working the phones, working the halls to get a strong vote in the coming hours and days," said the official.

The latest attempt at consensus emerged amid an impasse in the U.N. Security Council, with Russia leading the opposition to a tougher draft resolution authored by Western powers and the Arab League.

The new draft "fully supports" the January 22 Arab League request that Assad transfer power to a deputy and a government of national unity within two months but does not call on him to step down, according to a copy obtained by Agence France Presse.

Instead, it calls for a "Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system ... including through commencing a serious political dialogue between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition under the League of Arab States' auspices, in accordance with the timetable set out by the League of Arab States."

Like previous versions, the draft "condemns all violence, irrespective of where it comes from."

It was not clear whether the new draft had addressed Moscow's concerns, and Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the decision to send the draft back to governments "does not prejudge in any way" whether it would be approved or not.