Russia pressed its diplomatic offensive Tuesday in the Syrian crisis by hosting the Saudi foreign minister for talks that derailed over whether Syrian President Bashar Assad should have a role in the embattled country's postwar future.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Saudi counterpart, Adel Jubeir, also disagreed about including Assad in the campaign to eradicate Islamic State extremists who have thrived amid the chaos of Syria's civil war.
Moscow is one of Assad's few remaining allies. The Kremlin also has good relations with Iran, another backer of the Syrian government that is the target of the rebellion now in its fifth year.