US participation, especially if an agreement is reached, would be the first indication of the enhanced US-Russia cooperation that President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Donald Trump have forecast under a Trump administration. A spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that the United States would attend the talks, according to Turkish media. It remains unclear which of the non-terrorist opposition groups, variously backed by the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others in the region, will attend the talks. "The United States should definitely be invited, and that is what we agreed with Russia," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday, according to Turkish media reports. "Nobody can ignore the role of the United States."

Source: New Zealand Herald January 14, 2017 03:21 UTC