Canada's new prime minister vowed to make good on campaign promises to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by the beginning of next year and bring home fighter jets battling the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
The British government denied it was abandoning plans for a parliamentary vote to join air strikes in Syria as an influential committee of MPs advised against action.
US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that this week's international talks on the war in Syria will not find an immediate political solution but nevertheless represent the best hope available.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone talks with King Salman of Saudi Arabia focussed on seeking a solution to the Syria crisis, the Kremlin said.
Syria needs to eradicate "terrorism" to find a political solution to end the country's war, embattled President Bashar al-Assad told a visiting Russian delegation.
President Vladimir Putin accused the West of playing a "double game" with terrorist groups in Syria, where a US-led coalition is conducting a bombing campaign.
NATO voiced concern that Russia's air attacks in Syria creates the risk of "an incident getting out of control," as Moscow and the US-led international coalition pursue different military objectives in the country.
Russia's military intervention in Syria will not save President Bashar al-Assad, French President Francois Hollande said Friday after an EU summit called for a political transition to a new leader.
President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would not deploy ground troops to Syria, where it has been conducting air strikes against what it says are Islamic State target.
Pope Francis deplored the "escalation of violence affecting innocent civilians" in the Middle East, from Syria to Iraq, Jerusalem and the West Bank, and urged the international community to act.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper rejected a report accusing his office of holding up the resettlement of Syrian refugees, less than two weeks before legislative elections.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter predicted Russia would soon begin suffering casualties in Syria, as Moscow dramatically ramps up its military campaign in the devastated nation.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said there had been a "troubling escalation" in Russian military activity in Syria, after Moscow dramatically expanded its air campaign.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said only two Russian air strikes in Syria had targeted Islamic State jihadists and warned that Ankara would not make any concessions about the security of its borders