Senior United States and Russian diplomats met on Friday, January 11 with Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations and Arab League special envoy, to discuss possible mechanisms for ending the Syrian conflict but with little sign that an agreement was close, The New York Times reported. Brahimi’s talks with United States Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov of Russia focused on ways to implement an agreement major powers reached last June providing for the formation of a transitional government. Despite growing concerns over the threat to regional security posed by the conflict and the deepening humanitarian crisis, discussions have so far failed to make progress. The difficulties confronting Brahimi’s efforts to broker a political solution only increased when the Syrian government on Thursday accused the veteran diplomat of “flagrant bias” over remarks he made suggesting President Assad would have to give up power.