President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone about the Syrian peace conference on the eve of its Wednesday start, UPI quoted both countries as saying. "The conversation was businesslike and constructive in manner," the Kremlin said in a statement. The White House didn't characterize the call, which also included other issues, as Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Montreux, Switzerland, on Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps, before the talks were to begin. "They discussed the situation in Syria, including preparations for the Geneva II conference and the ongoing international program to remove and destroy Syria's chemical weapons," a statement issued by the White House press secretary's office said. The conference, aimed at ending Syria's nearly 3-year-old civil war, was to begin with a round of addresses by Kerry and his counterparts, including Lavrov.
