Monday's global agenda: Russia under pressure

Your morning global affairs speed-read

European officials are expected to press Russian President Vladimir Putin to take a stronger line against Syria's Bashar al-Assad during a meeting today in St. Petersburg. [BBC]

The meeting comes after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ramped up the pressure on Russia during her trip to Sweden.

Separately, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told reporters that Putin will be meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Beijing. Their meeting comes ahead of the latest round of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, set for June 18-19 in Moscow.  [AFP]

Nothing to see here: Al-Assad denied any role in the killing of 108 unarmed civilians in Houla in a 70-minute public speech over the weekend — the first since January — that the opposition said was evidence he's under immense international pressure. 
"When a surgeon in an operating room ... cuts and cleans and amputates, and the wound bleeds, do we say to him, 'Your hands are stained with blood'?" Assad said in a televised speech to parliament. "Or do we thank him for saving the patient?" [AP]

Next steps: The United States is conferring with Israel about new sanctions planned against Iran should international negotiations this month fail to curb the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, U.S. Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David Cohen told the Haaretz newspaper during a visit to Israel. [Reuters]

Eyeing Asia: Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is on a three-country trip to Asia to strengthen military ties with allies. He's visiting India next after stops in Vietnam and in Singapore for the Shangri-La security talks.

South of the border: Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson heads the U.S. delegation to the 42nd General Assembly of the Organization of American States in Bolivia. This year's focus is food security and sovereignty.

Family ties: Intrigue in the Karzai family is clouding Afghanistan's fate, The New York Times reports.

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