Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and French President Francois Hollande, who held a meeting hours before the G-20 summit talks on the global economy in St. Petersburg started, agreed that President Bashar al-Assad’s recent chemical weapons attack in Damascus suburb should not go unpunished.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that whatever action is required in Syria should be under the UN framework, amid growing pressure on US President Barack Obama from his Russian counterpart and other world leaders not to attack the Arab country.

US President Barack Obama arrived in Russia’s Saint Petersburg for the G20 summit, where officials said he will argue his case for military action against the Syrian regime over an alleged chemical weapons attack.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem will visit Moscow on September 9 to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday with reference to Russian Foreign Ministry.

Three Russian warships crossed Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait Thursday en route to the eastern Mediterranean, near the Syrian coast, amid concern in the region over potential US-led strikes in response to the Damascus regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Syria with British Prime Minister David Cameron early on Friday, Putin’s spokesman said. Cameron and Putin met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg

G20 leaders remain divided over the Syrian conflict as they enter the final day of their Russian summit. The splits were confirmed by both Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and US envoy to the United Nations Samantha Power.

Turkish Ambassador to Egypt Huseyin Avni Botsali returned to Cairo on Thursday morning after he was recalled by his native country for talks last month.

Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul said Thursday he is optimistic that Pakistan’s new government is serious about cooperation and confident the Taliban will not make a comeback.

Thanks to the transport and energy projects jointly implemented by Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the Caspian Sea region will gain a strategic significance in the world, Turkish president Abdullah Gul said at the international forum dedicated to transport and communication held in Istanbul on Thursday.