As the leaders of eight of the 11 richest countries in the world meet in Northern Ireland for the G-8 Summit, the topic that the countries seem to be mulling over most is the sought after peace regarding the crisis in Syria and Russia's support of Bashar Al Assad's army.
But according to the Washington Times peace is not something that will be easily reached.
At least one leader, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, made statements that Russia should not even be allowed to sit at the table with the rest of them stating that president Vladimir Putin supported "thugs of the Assad regime" when he sent missiles to the Free Syrian Army.
"I don't think we should fool ourselves. This is the G-7 plus one. Let's be blunt, that's what this is," Prime Minister Harper said, according to the Toronto Star. "Unless there's a big shift on [Putin's] part, we're not going to get a common position with him at the G-8."
Putin rebuffed the harsh comments and said both sides share fault as well as blood.
"Russia supplies arms to the legitimate government of Syria according to international law," he said, according to Bloomberg. "We breach nothing. And we call on out partners to act the same way."
President Barack Obama spoke to a group of 2,000 students on Monday, an audience described as "the generation of peace", and said the world needs to find ways of coming together in a unifying agreement founded on global betterment.
"We should not let the past pull us apart and stop us moving forward," he said to the group. "Somehow we need to make a brighter future, a future that builds bridges and brings people together."
The ongoing conflict will continue to take precedence over the next couple of days as the leaders explore other topics, which include: trade, tax, and transparency.
