LONDON
Britain and Russia remain divided over the role of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian conflict, despite a new pledge to find a solution to the war and counter the rise of Daesh.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone on Monday following Cameron’s recent victory in the U.K. general election on May 7.
A Downing Street spokesperson on Monday said the two leaders spoke for 30 minutes and focused on two key issues: Syria and Ukraine.
The pair agreed that national security advisers should meet to restart Syrian talks but Cameron and Putin remain at odds over Assad. Downing Street said that Cameron “reiterated his belief that President Assad could not be part of the solution in Syria."
Talks between Britain and Russia had broken down over Putin's continued support for the Syrian president who the U.K. accuses of massacring his own people.
'Implementation of Minsk deal a must'
On Ukraine, Cameron said that they would "continue to have deep differences but that the priority now must be to deliver full implementation of the Minsk (cease-fire) agreement," which the U.K. accuses Russia of breaching by sending troops and weapons into eastern Ukraine.
Russia denies the claims, saying the U.S. and EU have deliberately destabilized Ukraine to expand the West's military presence in Eastern Europe through NATO.
Cameron said the Ukraine trilateral contact group should continue to meet and work through outstanding issues.
The Trilateral Contact Group of representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe was formed after the May 2014 election of Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko.
The group was to facilitate dialogue between Kiev and Moscow.
Downing Street also said that the two leaders talked about how the U.K. and Russia had worked successfully together on the Iranian nuclear issue.
