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Gaziantep, Turkey — Russia on Thursday night warned of “a new world war” in Syria after Persian Gulf states threatened to send in ground forces to the conflict.

Foreign and defence ministers of the leading nations backing different factions in Syria met in Munich and Brussels Thursday following the collapse of the latest round of peace talks.

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Both Russia and the United States demanded ceasefires in the civil war so the fight could be concentrated against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, but each nation on its own, conflicting, terms.

The Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, staged their own intervention, saying they were committed to sending in ground troops. Their favoured rebel groups have been badly hit by Russian air raids and driven back by Iranian-supplied pro-regime troops. They said their declared target was Isil.

But the presence of troops from Gulf states which have funded the Syrian rebels would be taken as a hostile act by the Assad regime and its backers, and a sign that they were staking their claim to a say in the final settlement.