LONDON, June 12 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron says he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin prior to the Group of Eight summit to discuss the Syrian conflict.
The Sunday meeting in London between Cameron and Putin, before the summit starts in Northern Ireland, was arranged after Putin appeared to offer hope Russian support for the Syrian regime may be softening, the British newspaper The Independent reported Wednesday.
Speaking this week on English-language television Channel RT, Putin said Russians were "not advocates for the current government [in Syria] and the current president," adding Syrian President Bashar Assad had failed to make changes needed after protests escalated into conflict.
"Putin does not say things like that by accident," an unidentified British Foreign Office employee said in response. "This is an interesting piece of public pressure on Assad."
