New Diplomatic Efforts To End Syrian Civil War

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, U.N. Arab League deputy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, on Thursday. (SANA/AP)

While the fighting continues in Syria, there are new diplomatic efforts to end the 21-month old civil war there.

Syrian officials are in Moscow to negotiate with their Russian allies, and the United Nations’ special Syrian envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will fly to Moscow on Saturday to hold talks with Russia’s foreign minister.

Both the envoy and Russia want to revive a plan for a transitional government, but Brahimi’s recent trips to Syria to meet with embattled President Bashar Assad have been fruitless.

Guest:

• James Reynolds, BBC reporter monitoring Syria from Istanbul, Turkey. He tweets @JamesEReynolds.