Michele Kelemen

Obama, Erdogan To Discuss Syria's Conflict Spilling Into Turkey

Michele Kelemen — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:24:00 +0000

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets President Obama at the White House on Thursday. Their talks will focus on the Syrian conflict. Erdogan has been pushing the U.S. to do more to resolve a conflict.

Plans Proceed For Another International Meeting On Syria

Michele Kelemen — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:49:00 +0000

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President Obama got a warning this week about Syria. It's a warning that the country's civil war seems unlikely to end very soon on its own.

GREENE: The Obama administration has called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to go, but they've been reluctant to use force. Divisions in the international community have made it difficult to use diplomacy. Ideally, the U.S.

Kerry Appeals To Russia To Help End Syrian Civil War

Michele Kelemen — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:12:00 +0000

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In Moscow today, the U.S. and Russian governments agreed to make a new push for peace in Syria. They plan to convene a meeting by the end of this month of Syrian officials and opposition leaders to decide on a transitional government. The initiative, first broached last June, was announced after Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian foreign minister.

Kerry's Visit To Russia A Chance To Talk Syria, Mend Fences

Michele Kelemen — Mon, 06 May 2013 07:44:00 +0000

Secretary of State John Kerry sets off for what he calls "a long overdue" trip to Russia on Monday, and Syria is likely to top the agenda.

But U.S.-Russian relations are frosty these days. The U.S. is imposing targeted sanctions on Russian human rights violators, while Moscow is preventing American families from adopting Russian children.

Kerry would be wise, though, not to dwell on these and other disputes, says Angela Stent, director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University.

U.N. Aid Workers Not Prepared For Chemical Weapons In Syria

Michele Kelemen — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:00:00 +0000

The head of the U.N. refugee agency says aid workers are not at all prepared for the possibility of chemical warfare in Syria. That's just one of the concerns aid workers have in what they call the worst humanitarian disaster in recent decades. Eight thousand Syrians are fleeing every day and the world has focused much more on planning for the day after Bashar al-Assad is toppled rather than on dealing with the humanitarian catastrophes of today.