Reuters reports that “Russia and Syria urged the United States on Monday to focus on convening a peace conference to end more than two years of conflict instead of taking military action against Damascus.”

“After talks between the countries’ foreign ministers in Moscow, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem suggested a chemical attack which Washington blames on President Bashar al-Assad was a pretext to encourage military intervention and asked whether President Barack Obama was backing terrorists.”

“‘We are in Moscow at a time when the war drums are being beaten, the war drums of the government of the United States,’ Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said before talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that “Iraq joins Iran in opposing U.S.-led military strike in Syria.”