New talk on Syria, involving Russia and the US

New talks on Syria involving Russia, US Associated Press - 51 mins ago MOSCOW (AP) — Russian and U.S. diplomats are meeting Sunday with U.N. peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi for more talks on the civil war in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding that the Americans were wrong to see Moscowas softening its position. Russia agreed to take partin the talks in Geneva, he said, on the condition there would be no demand for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down. "We are not conducting any negotiations on the fate of Assad," Lavrov said Sunday. "All attempts to portray things differently are unscrupulous, even for diplomats of those countries which are known to try to distort the facts in their favor." Lavrov met last week with Brahimi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Dublin. Afterward,Clinton said the United States and Russia were committed to trying again to get both sides in the Syrian conflict to talk abouta political transition. Clintonstressed that the U.S. would continue to insist that Assad's departure be a key part of that transition. Russia and the United States have argued bitterly over how to address the conflict, which began with peaceful protests against Assad in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war that has killed an estimated 40,000 people. The U.S. has criticized Russia for shielding its closest ally in the Middle East, while Moscow has accused Washington of encouragingthe rebels and being intenton regime change. Russia's foreign minister said Sunday that after he agreed to a U.S. proposal to have his and Clinton's deputies "brainstorm" on Syria, the Americans beganto suggest that Russia wassoftening its position. "No such thing," Lavrov said. "We have not changed our position." He urged the international community to come together and "with one voice" to demand a ceasefire, return U.N. observers in bigger numbers and begin a political dialogue. Lavrov repeated that Russia was not wedded to Assad but believed that only the Syrians have the right to choose their leaders. Germany weighed in Sunday on the future of Assad's regime, with Federal Intelligence Service chief Gerhard Schindler saying it would not survive, although it was impossible to say how long it would hang on. "Signs are increasing that the regime in Damascus is in its final phase," he was quoted as telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Assad's regime appears increasingly embattled, with rebels making gains innorthern Syria and near Damascus, the capital. Addressing fears that Assad could use chemical weapons in a last-ditch effort to save his regime, Lavrov once again said the Syrian government hasgiven assurances that it has no intention of ever using the weapons of massdestruction. He said the greatest threat is that they would fall into the hands of militants. Lavrov said Russia takes seriously any rumor about Syria's chemical weapons and immediately clarifies the situation with the Syrian government, passing on any informationto the Americans.