Putin under new pressure on Syria as Cameron leads seven world powers in bid to get agreement that Assad's brutal regime needs to be toppled



Prime Minister spearheaded efforts to persuade Russia

Conflict risks overshadowing two-day G8 summit in Northern Ireland



US President Barack Obama is ready to provide weapons



Vladimir Putin warns against arming rebels who 'eat the organs' of enemies

Boris Johnson joins opposition to giving guns to 'Al Qaeda-affiliated thugs'

Mr Cameron wants summit to focus on tax, trade and transparency

US trade deal with Europe could be worth £10billion to the UK



David Cameron led seven world powers against one last night as he tried to shame Russian leader Vladimir Putin into agreeing that Syria's brutal regime must be toppled.



As Syrian president Bashar al-Assad warned the West would 'pay the price' in terror if it attempted to oust him, the Prime Minister spearheaded efforts to persuade Russia to temper its support for the regime.

Over a dinner of crab and lamb at the G8 summit, the leaders of the US, Canada, Germany, Japan, France, and Italy joined the UK in urging President Putin to give ground.

Scroll down for video



Alone: Russia's President Vladimir Putin cut a solitary figure as he arrived for the talks, amid mounting pressure from other G8 countries to back arming rebels in Syria

Greeting: As host David Cameron welcome President Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the summit at the Lough Erne resort in Enniskillen

US President Barack Obama arrives at the Lough Erne golf resort where the G8 summit is taking place

Talks: While Syria dominated the headlines, the first announcement at the G8 today was the start of formal talks on an EU-US trade deal unveiled by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, US President Barack Obama, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and UK Prime Minister David Cameron

British officials said Mr Cameron regarded it as a 'clarifying moment' that would signal whether world leaders were serious about pushing for a transitional government to take over from Assad.

Other than Russia, members of the G8 agreed on a five-point plan after two years of civil war in Syria. It included a condemnation of the use of chemical weapons and a declaration that Syria needs a 'new government' with the consent of its people.

Mr Cameron faces growing opposition at home amid suggestions that he is in favour of joining the US in giving greater assistance to those trying to overthrow Assad.



Allies: David Cameron and Barack Obama helped students paint a mural during a visit to the Enniskillen Integrated Primary School in Enniskillen ahead of crunch talks on Syria at the G8 summit

Art: The US President and British Prime Minister signed a project at the school to mark the summit being held in their town in this pictured posted online by Mr Cameron

Message: Mr Cameron wrote 'with thanks for all you do' while Mr Obama added 'dream top dreams'

He has been warned that he could be defeated in the Commons if he tries to win parliamentary approval for Britain to arm the rebels.

A ComRes poll for ITV News revealed that only 17 per cent of voters would back providing arms. Tory MP Julian Lewis said he believed a motion to facilitate the arming of Syrian rebels would be 'heavily defeated' by MPs.

There are signs that, in the teeth of such opposition, Britain may step up technical support to rebel forces while the US could provide arms.



Talks: Ahead of the formal opening of the G8 summit, Mr Cameron met with US President Barack Obama before travelling to a local school

Split: Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain must protect the Syrian opposition from being 'exterminated' but Mayor of London Boris Johnson warned any attempt to arm opposition forces could put weapons in the hands of 'Al Qaeda-affiliated thugs' G8 leaders are today expected to agree not to pay ransoms to terrorist kidnappers amid evidence that the price per hostage has spiralled to more than £1.5million. Britain has long had such a policy but ransoms paid by other countries have become a significant source of terror funding. It is thought £45million has been handed to terror groups in the past three years. Mr Cameron said: 'I want countries to sign up to a tangible agreement.' US President Barack Obama, who visited a school in Enniskillen with Mr Cameron today, is ready to arm the opposition in Syria. But Mr Putin used a fraught press conference in Downing Street yesterday to warn the rebels ‘eat the organs’ of their enemies. Mr Johnson put himself at odds with the Prime Minister, warning Britiain would not be able prevent weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists. Global: Russian President Vladmir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe are in the Lough Erne resort for the summit

Late: German Chancellor Angela Merkel was one of the last to arrive in Belfast for the G8

Arrivals: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and French President Francois Hollande touched down at Belfast International Airport en route to the Loche Erne resort The London Mayor said: 'This is not the moment to send more arms. We can't use Syria as an arena for geopolitical point-scoring or muscle-flexing, and we won't get a ceasefire by pressing weapons into the hands of maniacs. 'How are we meant to furnish machine guns and anti-tank weapons to one set of opposition forces, without them ending up in the hands of men like the al Qaida-affiliated thugs who executed a child for telling a joke?' he wrote in a column in the Daily Telegraph. As the two-year war in Syria threatens to dominate the G8 summit at the Lough Erne resort, Mr Cameron said he was ‘as worried as anyone’ that plans to arm opposition forces fighting to oust President Bashar Assad. Speech: US President Barack Obama addressed thousands of young people in Belfast before travelling on to the G8 summit Tribute: Mr Obama hailed the 'sheer bloody genius' of a new peace in Northern Ireland after years of conflict Smiles: First Lady Michelle Obama introduced her husband, urging the school children to believe they could achieve anything The two-day summit will see the Lough Erne resort in Enniskillen host Mr Obama, Mr Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Canadian premier Stephen Harper, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Mr Cameron wants to make progress on a free trade deal between Europe and the US which he believes could ‘turbo-charge the transatlantic economy’. President Obama, who gave a speech in Belfast before travelling to the summit, is expected to launch formal talks on the so-called ‘economic Nato’. Mr Cameron believes it could be worth £10 billion to the UK economy, or £380 for every British household. He said: ‘'These trade deals matter, because they mean more jobs, more choice for consumers and lower prices.’

Talks: President Barack Obama waved as he arrived at Belfast's Aldergrove International airport with his daughter Sasha

Arrival: President Obama was seen walking down the steps of Air Force One with his Sasha The PM posted on Twitter this morning that he wants to focus the summit on ‘tax, trade + transparency will help hard working families around the world’. But Syria is likely to dominate the agenda, with attendees as far away from agreement as ever. In a round of TV interviews at Lough Erne, Mr Cameron said: ‘Let's be clear - I am as worried as anybody else about elements of the Syrian opposition, who are extremists, who support terrorism and who are a great danger to our world. ‘The question is what do we do about it? My argument is that we shouldn't accept that the only alternative to Assad is terrorism and violence. ‘We should be on the side of Syrians who want a democratic and peaceful future for their country and one without the man who is currently using chemical weapons against them. ‘What we can try and do here at the G8 is have further pressure for the peace conference and the transition that is needed to bring this conflict to an end.’ Tensions between the world’s leaders over the Syrian conflict risk overshadowing Mr Cameron’s hopes of using the UK presidency of the G8 to reach a deal on tax transparency and trade. Family: The US President is attending the G8 summit, but his wife Michelle, and daughters Malia (left) and Sash (right) are due to tour Belfast A specialist military unit which is able to secure Syria's chemical weapons is to be reinstated by the Ministry of Defence - two years after it was axed as part of budget cuts. It would mean British forces would be able to join US forces sent to Syria to try and prevent its stockpile of weapons falling into terrorist's hands. The unit was cut in 2011 in a bid to save £129million a year. Mr Cameron insisted that the UK has not made a decision arm the Syrian opposition and faces a warning that up to 80 Tory MPs could try to block it. He echoed remarks made by President Putin during a fraught Downing Street press conference with Mr Cameron yesterday where the Russian President made a blood-curdling reference to video footage of a rebel fighter apparently eating the liver of a dead Syrian soldier, he even suggested the Prime Minister was siding with cannibals. Reacting to comments from Mr Cameron that those arming the Damascus regime had the 'blood of the children of Syria' on their hands, a furious Mr Putin said: 'The blood is on the hands of both parties. 'There is always a question as to who is to blame. One should hardly back those who kill enemies and eat their organs. 'It is hardly in relation to the humanitarian and cultural values Europe has been professing for centuries.' Mr Putin dismissed calls from Mr Cameron and the West to stop arming the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad, saying Russia was supplying 'the legitimate government of Syria in full compliance with the norms of international law'. G8 Protesters break through an outer fence during a protest near the G8 summit in Loch Erne, Enniskillen All at sea: Protestors campaigning against tax avoidance from the 'IF campaign' wore masks depicting G8 leaders during a protest near the Killyhevlin Hotel where the summit is being held Boats: The mini-flotilla of four boats called for an end to tax dodging Hunger: Campaigners also called on G8 leaders to do more to help people around the world in need of food Today Mr Cameron acknowledged that there was ‘a big difference’ between the positions of Russia and the West. But he insisted there was ‘common ground’ on the need for a peace conference, a peace process and a transition to a different regime in Syria. Foreign Secretary William Hague insisted Britain must protect the Syrian opposition from being 'exterminated'. He warned that the crisis was 'on a trajectory to get worse' and the only way of securing a political solution in the conflict was to ensure that moderates opposing Bashar Assad's regime were not destroyed.

Focus: The Prime Minister has vowed to put the 'three Ts' of tas, trade and transparency at the heart of the summit agenda but it risks being dominated by global tensions over Syria Gloomy: There are storm clouds over Lough Erne, where the G8 summit is being hosted by the UK government Mr Hague told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'There is, in the end, only a political solution to it. A military conquest of either side by the other side would lead to the collapse of the Syrian state.

'Our fear is we are only going to get a political solution to this crisis if the opposition, the moderate sensible parts of the opposition, can't be destroyed. Therefore, they do need assistance of various kinds. ' We don't rule any option out. We shouldn't rule any option out because who knows how serious this crisis will become, how it will develop over the coming months or years, indeed,' he added.

'There are no palatable options, I want to be clear with the whole country, there are no easy options at all.

'Of course it's not easy to take any decision to send arms to a conflict. It's also not easy to take a decision to allow people to be killed who are faced by much superior arms and who may be driven to radicalism and extremism by being placed in that situation.'

Tents: Anti-G8 protesters have set up camp near the G8 Summit Quiet: The protests have been on a much smaller scale than that seen when the UK last hosted the G8 in 2005. G8 protestor Darren Carnegie (right) is pictured at a campsite Despite the international focus on Syria, Mr Cameron made clear that his key priorities for the two-day summit are economic issues, including a planned EU/US free trade deal and measures to crack down on tax havens. Mr Cameron had sought to put the ‘three Ts’ of trade, tax and transparency at the top of the agenda while the UK holds the year-long presidency of the G8. In addition to the US-Europe trade deal, he is also hoping to forge agreement on greater sharing of tax information in order to prevent companies and individuals avoiding paying their fair share by hiding cash in offshore bolt-holes. At the weekend the tax transparency drive was boosted by the agreement of 10 British overseas territories and crown dependencies to sign up to new OECD standards. It had been thought the deal could flounder, after Bermuda signalled it was not happy with the new rules.

Security: There is a massive police presence in the Lough Erne Resort as the group of G8 world leaders arrives

Patrol: Police boats have been closely monitoring the River Erne near the G8 summit

Police: The decision to host the G8 in Northern Ireland has been seen as a major step forward in the peace process

Mr Cameron said: ‘I think we have made huge progress already, even before leaders have arrived here in Northern Ireland.

‘I know the scepticism there is around the country about leaders meeting, a lot of words, will things happen?

‘I want to be absolutely clear that my agenda here is about helping hard-working families right here in the United Kingdom.

‘We've already actually gathered billions of pounds of extra tax revenue because of this agenda, which means that I can keep taxes down on hard-working families across the United Kingdom.

‘We are going to achieve more on that. If we sign trade deals and start trade negotiations here at this meeting in Northern Ireland, that will cut prices and mean a wider range of goods in shops here in the United Kingdom and jobs here in the United Kingdom.