U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to press Russia to withdraw its support for the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad this week.
Kerry plans to meet Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Brussels on the sidelines of a NATO-Russia Council meeting. He has said he has not given up on trying to persuade Moscow to reverse its support for Assad.
The U.S. said Friday that it would provide Syrian rebels with $123 million in new nonlethal aid that may include body armor and other types of supplies that have not been part of the assistance package in the past.
(AP, MT)
