The United States welcomes the Syrian Coalition’s decision to participate in the Geneva II conference, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday night. “This is a significant step forward in the process to convene the Geneva conference, the goal of which is the full implementation of the Geneva

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke on Tuesday as part of their ongoing discussions on shared security interests, including Iran, Afghanistan and Syria, the White House announced.

Turkey has asked NATO to extend for another year the deployment of surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria because of a continuing “serious” threat, officials said on Wednesday. “We have received a letter from the Turkish government requesting the continuation of the Patriot mission,” a NATO official said.