Putin declines to back Syria regime

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stopped short of backing Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian crisis, saying Russia had no special relationship with his regime and refusing to predict that the president would stay in power.
With pressure mounting on Moscow to harden its line against Assad, Putin called on both the Damascus regime and opposition rebels to agree a ceasefire but also criticised the West for backing the rebels in the conflict.
"We have no special relationship with Syria," Putin told foreign news executives late Thursday at a meeting at his suburban Moscow residence ahead of Sunday's presidential elections in Russia.
Alluding to Assad's future, he said both sides had to sit down and agree "what reforms there will be and what will be the consequences of these reforms."
"But now we have to get them to stop killing each other," he added.
Russia in February outraged the West by vetoing, along with China, a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Assad regime for the violence.
Some analysts saw the Security Council veto as a warning from Putin to Western states that Russia would pursue a tough foreign policy if, as expected, he returns to the Kremlin after Sunday's presidential elections.