MUNICH: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said all powers must sit at the negotiating table to forge an end to the war in Syria "instead of unleashing a new world war".
"The Americans and our Arab partners must think well: do they want a permanent war?" Medvedev told Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper, due to be published on Friday. It would be impossible to win such a war quickly, he said according to a German translation of his words, "especially in the Arab world, where everybody is fighting against everybody".
"All sides must be compelled to sit at the negotiating table instead of unleashing a new world war," he said.
He said the United States and Russia must exert pressure on all sides in the conflict in order to secure a ceasefire.
Russia is carrying out bombing sorties around the key city of Aleppo, in support of advances by troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. U.S. and other Western air forces are also involved in air strikes in northern Syria.
REUTERS
