U.S. differences with Russia over Syria are widening just as the two powers seek to convene global talks on ending the more than two-year conflict. On Tuesday, the United States said it backed a European Union decision to provide weapons to Syrian rebels while condemning Russia’s move to send anti-aircraft missiles to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell spoke in Washington.

Patrick Ventrell: “We disagree with and we condemn the continued supply of Russian weapons to the regime, and this includes all class of weapons. And we’ve been clear throughout and very direct with the Russian government about that. We’ve seen how the regime uses those arms. When we’re talking about the opposition, that’s a different group. And clearly we have people who are defending themselves in the face of an enormous onslaught and a despicable onslaught of violence against them.”