UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan (2nd L) speaks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2nd R), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (L), and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton at the opening of a high-level meeting on Syria at the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 30, 2012. World powers began a crisis meeting on Syria aimed at salvaging international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan to end 16 months of bloodshed and chart a transition plan for the strife-torn country. Photo by Hakan Goktepe/AA/ABACAPRESS.COM