David Cameron and allies urge Vladimir Putin to get behind Syria peace drive

David Cameron has joined fellow European leaders to urge Vladimir Putin to help transform the current fragile truce in the Syrian civil war into the kind of long-lasting ceasefire which would add momentum to peace talks.

The Prime Minister took part in a 50-minute conference call with the Russian president, along with French president Francois Hollande, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian PM Matteo Renzi.

The European leaders told Mr Putin they welcomed the cessation of hostilities in Syria over the past week and that they wanted to seize the opportunity to create a "positive dynamic" for UN-sponsored peace talks due to start in Geneva next week, leading to a political transition to a new administration to replace the regime of Moscow protege Bashar Assad.