Takeaways from the Syria talks in Vienna

A day after the attacks in Paris underlined the global danger posed by the continuing violence in Syria, Russia, the United States, and governments in Europe and the Middle East agreed at talks in Vienna to a road map for ending the devastating and destabilizing war.

“We do agree on this: It is time for the bleeding in Syria to stop”.

Speaking at the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that “all issues about what is next for Assad have not been clarified in the general paperwork [of the Vienna meeting]”.

US President Barack Obama is believed to have delivered a similar message to the Russian leader in an unscheduled 35-minute discussion on the fringe of the Antalya summit, which has been dominated by discussions over the world’s response to Friday’s attacks in Paris and the downing of a Russian airliner in Egypt.

Negotiations between the parties to the Syrian conflict were to establish a “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian” transitional government in Damascus that would set a schedule for drafting a new constitution and holding a free and fair UN-supervised election within 18 months, according to the United Nations statement.

The Minister condemned the sides which have encouraged and facilitated stealing and marketing the Syrian oil, stressing that those sides are the same countries that made marketing this stolen oil legitimate by resolution No. 186 dated April 22, 2013 which was issued by the European Union. But peace efforts in the past have stumbled over insistence by the US and Arab-backed opposition that talks begin with explicit understanding that Assad will leave. Russia, Assad’s principal supporter along with Iran, has long argued the opposite. The question remains unsettled, and Kerry and Lavrov made it clear that they remain deeply divided. Kerry suggested radicals were drawn to the country in their fight against Assad, a view Lavrov disputed.

“What I ask [French President Francois Hollande] to do is to act in the interest of the French people – which means changing his policies”, Assad continued. “Our hope is that people will take advantage of this moment”.

While the diplomats agreed on a U.N.-administered cease fire enforcement mechanism they failed to reach consensus on which groups other than the Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates would not be eligible for the truce. “They fully understand the rules of the road here”. “He doesn’t know how to tell the truth to his public”. However, he hinted at “security measures against Daesh” that would allow action against the extremist group. Assad is buying oil produced in territory held by the Islamic State, and has never attacked the militants as he wages war on his own people.

And he said they should help poorer states financially to enable them to raise their standards, and to assist those – like Tunisia – whose tourist industries have suffered a slump in business as a result of terrorism.

“The events in Paris underscore the threat that Daesh poses to all of us”, he later told reporters, referring by an alternate name to ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.

David Cameron is meeting Vladimir Putin as Western allies try to persuade the Russian president to co-operate in the worldwide struggle against terror group Islamic State in the wake of attacks in Paris and Egypt.