UK and Russia to resume Syria talks

David Cameron and Vladimir Putin have agreed to resume talks to find a solution to the civil war in Syria.

The prime minister and the Russian president spoke on the phone for half an hour on Monday afternoon, with Putin congratulating Cameron on his election win.

A Downing Street spokesperson said the two leaders agreed their national security advisers should meet to restart talks on the Syrian conflict, which has raged for more years four years and killed an estimated 310,000 people.

“On Syria, both leaders agreed that it is in the interest of both the UK and Russiato help find a solution to the civil war in Syria and particularly to stop the rise of [Isis],” the spokesperson said.

Previous talks between Britain and Russia seeking to find a solution to the conflict broke down due to Putin’s continued support of the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad.

The spokesperson said the prime minister reiterated his belief that Assad could not be part of the solution in Syria, and the two leaders agreed that “both countries should continue talks with the moderate Syrian opposition as part of this effort”.

Cameron and Putin also spoke about the crisis in Ukraine. The spokesperson said the pair would continue to have “deep differences”, but: “The priority now must be to deliver full implementation of the Minsk agreement. The prime minister emphasised the need for the trilateral contact group to continue to meet and to work through the outstanding issues.”

The spokesperson added that Cameron concluded the call by noting that “the UK and Russia had worked successfully together on the Iranian nuclear issue” and that “he hoped that in the years ahead [they] could find other issues where the UK and Russia could work together on matters of mutual interest”.