Merkel Says Assad Must Have Role in Syria Talks

He said Syrian peace is a priority, and suggested that he would be willing to negotiate with Assad to secure the future of the country.

The German chancellor’s attitude agreed with the views of President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskow told the Interfax news agency.

“Happy Eid Adha…to every Syrian who faces the will to kill and destroy with the will to live, survive, work and produce,” he said. But instead of supporting the revolution when it was a largely unarmed affair, the globe’s power players turned Syria into a geopolitical chessboard, actively sponsoring various sides of the conflict without concern for the civilian population. The elder Assad’s approach was, if anything, more brutal than his son’s, as the survivors of his 1982 siege of the town of Hama, aimed at quelling an uprising by Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, can attest.

Washington and London said recently Assad may not have to step down immediately if a settlement is reached to end Syria’s civil war.

Three years after the agreement of the Geneva Communiqué, a document setting out guidelines on Syria’s path to peace and a political transition, the United Nations process has failed to make headway in brokering an end to the war. Iran – along with Russian Federation, which is expanding its military presence in Syria – is the strongest backer of Assad.

Hammond’s willingness to consider working with Assad comes after Russian troops arrived in Syria to boost Assad’s military capability against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) which now holds swathes of Syria and Iraq. Rand Paul. How we halt the flow of this river of blood, and how we bring about the peaceful return of Syrian refugees to their homes, is the fundamental test of our values. The weapons were sent to help the ethnic faction fight the Islamic State, but they are also opposed to the integrity of the Syrian state as it was before the civil war, which they see as an occupying force in their own breakaway state of Rojava. “If this scenario is discussed by Syrians themselves and is adopted by them, we are not against it”. Moreover, Russian Federation has been holding its protective hand over Syria in the UN Security Council.

Not only has the Obama administration made clear its determination to replace Assad, but the last thing it wants is to be seen once again doing deals with Iran.

Bishop said it was becoming clear, with Russia’s backing of Assad, that his regime might have to be part of a national unity government. “I very much doubt the P3 [the U.S., U.K., and France] refused or dismissed any such strategy offer at the time”, claimed the diplomat, who was reportedly stationed in the region at the time. Russia’s arrival has been questioned by rebel groups and those who oppose Syria. Nor is there any guarantee that Putin won’t throw Israel to the wolves down the line, much as his Soviet predecessors did after the 1967 Six-Day War.

“How many Syrian children, how many people have died in strikes by the regime’s barrel bombs?”