Russia said it was optimistic about a Syria meet in Geneva after being told by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that outside powers could only advise rather than dictate a power transition process.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after crunch talks and a dinner with Clinton that he "detected a shift" in Washington's approach to ending 16 months of bloodshed that no longer involved a specific demand for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave.
"There were no ultimatums. Not a word was said about the document now being discussed in Geneva being completely untouchable," Lavrov told reporters in reference to wording that suggest no future role for Assad.
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"I can confidently say that we have a very good chance tomorrow in Geneva to find a common denominator and mark a path forward," Lavrov added.
"We agreed to find a consensus that rests on a clear understanding... that the Syrian sides must be stimulated toward dialogue, but that the decision to what the state looks like and who occupies which posts can only be decided by the Syrians themselves."
The US account of the meeting was far more measured and appeared to suggest little agreement to the future of Assad.
A senior US State Department official noted some progress while conceding that "there were still areas of difficulty and difference" between the approaches of Russia and the United States.
"But our of respect to (international peace envoy) Kofi Annan, they agreed we should all go to Geneva tomorrow to try to produce a result."
Annan's proposal would hand power to an interim Syrian team without those "whose continued presence and participation would undermine the credibility of the transition and jeopardise stability and reconciliation".
The wording appears to imply -- without saying so directly -- that Assad would have to relinquish his grip on the presidency for the idea to succeed.
Russia has recently cooled toward the regime while still providing its old ally with weapons and insisting that only the Syrians themselves can find a lasting solution to bloodshed that monitors say has claimed 15,800 lives.
Lavrov on Thursday rejected the notion that Russia was now ready to accept a prescription for the crisis "dictated from abroad" and reaffirmed that view following his meeting with Clinton.
