First Round of Syria Peace Talks End

End of conflict still nowhere in sight

(Reuters)—A contentious week-long first round of Syrian peace talks ended on Friday with no progress towards ending the civil war and the government delegation unable to say whether it will return for the next round in 10 days.

Darkening the atmosphere further, the United States and Russia clashed over the pace of Syria's handover of chemical arms for destruction, with Washington accusing Damascus of foot-dragging to put the plan weeks behind schedule, and Moscow—President Bashar al-Assad's big power ally—rejecting this.