Russia: ‘There is an agreement’ on UN resolution to end Syrian war

The 15-nation Security Council was scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) to discuss Syria, but it was not yet clear whether they would have a resolution to adopt.

But a deal remained elusive on yesterday morning as talks among the 17 members of the so-called International Syria Support Group got underway at New York’s Palace Hotel.

The draft also notes that the cease-fire “will not apply to offensive or defensive actions” against groups considered terrorist organizations, meaning that airstrikes by Russia, France and the U.S.-led coalition apparently would not be affected.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said negotiations were still taking place on the Security Council resolution.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Al Jazeera that with just hours to go before the multi-nation group was due to sit down, there were still major sticking points, and as yet no agreement over which groups should comprise the Syrian “opposition” and which entities should be on a list of “terrorist” organizations. The talks would focus on the composition of a transitional governing body that includes all of Syria’s stakeholders and would be formed within six months, before free elections after 18 months. The newly elected head of the bloc, former Syrian prime minister Riad Hijab, said on Friday that direct talks would not begin until Mr Al Assad leaves power. Syria’s main opposition group said a January 1 deadline for starting peace talks was “too ambitious”.

On Friday, global envoys – including in particular Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov – are hoping to hear from Saudi Arabia how its efforts to mediate a Syrian opposition coalition are progressing.

Both he and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said negotiations among the foreign ministers were “going well”.

Opposition groups met in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, ruling out any continuation of Assad’s rule, but John Kerry, US secretary of state, has said his removal is not a precondition for talks.

“At the same time we should exclude people with official affiliation with Daesh (an Arabic acronym for ISIL), the Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham, or other Al-Qaeda affiliates”, Zarif said.

Spurred on by the deadly attacks in Paris, the 17 nations overcame their differences on how to end the civil war in Syria and agreed to the road map for a political transition now being worked on.

He continued, “The first symptom of Assad being under control would be an end to the collective punishment and mass homicide and only then would the Syrian people truly have a chance to decide their fate”.

World powers have been meeting in NY to try to advance a tentative plan to bring about a ceasefire in Syria.

“The consensus is that they won’t reach consensus on the terrorist list today”, one of the diplomats said.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Thursday that the initial idea was for a “very short resolution” that would reaffirm the content of the two communiques from the Vienna meetings.

“I’m not sure it’s going to happen because there are some unfortunately deliberate, or not deliberate, attempts to undercut the Vienna documents, and we don’t want to see that”, he told reporters without elaborating.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since March 2011.