UN Passes Resolution Urging Political Settlement In Syria

The ministers of the 15-member Security Council were scheduled to convene for a vote on the draft text, once a final version was agreed between the so-called P5.

Kerry made clear that there were still differences on the future of Assad as well as on the question of which Syrian opposition groups will have a seat at the table in talks with the government.

The U.N. Security Council’s unanimous support of a peace process for Syria that is set to begin next month with government-opposition talks and a cease-fire represents its strongest gesture yet in support of a solution to the civil war.

“We must realize the political process is going to go backward if we are not making progress”, he said.

“They’re clapping their hands, and they are saying “thank you Mr. Putin”, and throwing flowers at his feet for going into Syria and destroying the ISIS terrorists that have been blamed for so much of mishap and confusion and destruction in Europe and in various parts of the United States”, he said. Representatives of Syria’s opposition themselves hope this week to finalize their negotiating team for talks with Assad’s government.

Ban Ki-moon specifically recognised the statesmanship of US State Secretary John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who were both present at the meeting on Friday.

Aside from the hosts, the ISSG meeting brought together Britain, the UAE, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, China, Egypt, Germany, France, Iran, Iraq and Italy.

But the diplomats remained divided over a resolution that the U.N. Security Council was expected to adopt just after the talks endorsing the process.

Though the U.S. and its Arab allies still think that Assad should leave the office, Russian Federation insists that the decision should be left to the Syrian people.

The Syria road map, which also calls for a nationwide ceasefire that would not apply to Islamic State, Nusra Front and some other militant groups, was previously worked out in two rounds of ministerial talks in Vienna. She examines Putin’s changing stance on Syria. And they said “yes” to the key points of the [Syrian] crisis settlement.

Vladimir Putin has said Russian Federation is using “far from everything we are capable of” in its military operations in Syria.

More than 250,000 people have lost their lives and almost half of the country’s population have been displaced in the foreign-backed conflict that was started in March 2011.

Kerry’s declarations crystallized the evolution in USA policy on Assad over the last several months, as ISIS’ growing influence in the Middle East has taken priority.