Syria: Russia refuses to change stance despite William Hague’s efforts

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, insisted that “both sides” inSyria’s conflict were responsible for the deaths of at least 108 people in the town on Friday, and that Russia was not interested in trying to remove Bashar al-Assad from power.

Mr Hague had expressed hope on Sunday that he could persuade the Kremlin to lean on the Syrian president – whose forces are suspected of committing the massacre – to curtail the spiralling violence.