Clinton, Lavrov set for Syria showdown

Fri Jun 29th 2012

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are heading for a face-to-face showdown as major powers prepare for a weekend conference to hash out a political transition plan aimed at ending the violence in Syria.

Clinton and Lavrov are meeting in St. Petersburg today, on the eve of the conference in Geneva in a bid to iron out differences over the transition plan being pushed by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan. U.S. officials are adamant the plan will not allow Syrian President Bashar Assad to remain in power, but Russia insists that outsiders cannot dictate a solution.

Annan's plan calls for the formation of a national unity government in Syria.