You're reading: Clinton, Lavrov set for Syria showdown

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are heading for a face-to-face showdown as major powers prepare for a weekend conference to hash out a political transition plan aimed at ending the violence in Syria.

Clinton and Lavrov will meet in St. Petersburg late on Friday on the eve of the conference in Geneva in a bid to iron out differences over the transition plan being pushed by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan (KOH’-fee AN’-nan). U.S. officials are adamant the plan will not allow Syrian President Bashar Assad (bah-SHAR’ AH’-sahd) to remain in power, but Russia insists that outsiders cannot dictate a solution.

Annan’s plan calls for the formation of a national unity government in Syria.