Russia, US agree to global talks, facilitate peace process in Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and U.S. Senator John Kerry meet in Damascus on January 8, 2005, to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East and Iraq.

Mr Kerry first held talks with his usual sparring partner, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, but the success of his trip depends on the rare Kremlin meeting with Mr Putin. He also evoked the adoption of a United Nations resolution on the next steps in the negotiation process on Syria.

Carter said Sunni Gulf Arab countries could encourage and help Sunni Muslim communities living in areas controlled by Islamic State, a hardline Sunni group, to resist their rule.

Lavrov said the two countries agreed to intensify “our efforts in counterterrorism”. Rather, he said, it is on facilitating a peace process in which “Syrians will be making decisions for the future of Syria”.

However, after having a conversation with Assad’s key worldwide backer, Kerry said that the focus of the United States is no more on the difference in opinion with Russian Federation relating to whether Assad should remain in power.

“And I’m pleased to say he took that under advisement”, Kerry said.

The talks are part of a new drive by diplomats, announced in Vienna in November, to end the war in Syria.

More than 250,000 people have died since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011, and millions more have fled their homes. Russia, which has launched an air campaign to prop up Assad, has also been pressing for talks and calling for the U.S. to combine efforts to destroy the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

The US State Secretary expressed gratitude to Putin for his hospitality and to Lavrov and his team for their efforts on improving cooperation with the US.

“ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist groups are a common threat to all of us, entire mankind, and today we have confirmed the determination to eradicate this evil”, the minister said. Last week, a meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, saw some Syrian opposition groups agreeing to form a united group for negotiating with Assad.

“It is vital to the world that nations don’t just hunker down in opposition but that they engage and find a way through communication to try to not be isolated and try not to go down predetermined roads, but find a way to be able to solve the problems”, Kerry said.

“Both you and President Obama have committed themselves to trying to develop as much as possible…an approach that can try to deal with Ukraine and deal with Syria”, Kerry said.

“It’s a non-starting position, obviously”, he said, reiterating that the transition would take place in “about a six month period”. The U.S. would not end the sanctions in exchange for Russian Federation pressuring Assad to leave office, the official said: The issues are separate.

Putin offered only perfunctory comments at the start of the meeting, but noted that “together, we are looking for ways out of the most urgent crises”, despite several “outstanding issues”.