Putin Won't Back Syria Peace Process Predicated on Assad Departure

So much for an agreement at the G-8

Hopes that the G8 summit would set out a clear route map to end the bloody civil war in Syria have been dashed after Vladimir Putin, insisted he could not back a peace conference convened on the assumption that the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, would step down.

The prime minister, David Cameron, had been hoping for "a moment of clarity" at the summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, so that world leaders could agree the terms of a peace conference leading to a transitional government with executive powers.