United Nations meeting on Syria political transition to go forward

“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.

Speaking in Moscow on Tuesday, Kerry said the US and its partners “are not seeking so-called regime change” and said the focus now is on facilitating a peace process in which “Syrians will be making decisions for the future of Syria”.

After a three-hour meeting in Moscow between Putin and Kerry, Russia and the United States appeared to be a step closer to each other’s positions on Syria, though differences remained on the fate of President Bashar al-Assad.

Ban told a news conference on Wednesday that the United Nations is pressing for a nationwide cease-fire and the start of negotiations on a political settlement in January to end the almost five-year conflict “and we must not relent”.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested to reporters Wednesday that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad could maintain a prominent position in the Syrian government if the country’s people desire it, although he said such an outcome is unlikely to happen. The United States believes Assad must step down as part of any viable transition. However, Kerry said that the global talks will definitely take place if the two countries agreed to do so, initiating potential political transformation.

Graham, incidentally, stood up during a recent “Republican” presidential debate and said he’d been “right more than wrong” on foreign policy.

“We don’t seek to isolate Russian Federation as a matter of policy, no”, Kerry said. “The Kurds, certainly, must not be excluded from this process”, RIA quoted Meshkov as saying in an interview.

But this time was a little different because Russian Federation named specific groups, claiming over 5,000 opposition fighters were battling Daesh (ISIS) in conjunction with Syrian government forces.

A 34-member secretariat established at the Riyadh meeting is expected to meet later this week to decide matters, including who will chair it. Representatives of Syria’s opposition themselves hope this week to finalize their negotiating team for talks with Assad’s government.

That goal now looks in doubt, with the State Department last Friday calling it a “target date, not a deadline”. “It seems ambitious”, said a senior Western diplomat. Much of Tuesday’s talks were led by Putin.

Lavrov said Moscow wanted more precise information from Riyadh about the initiative.

Such an approach was reflected in previous Syrian peace talks in Vienna of Austria, and should include all key players that “influence one way or another on warring sides in Syria”, according to Lavrov.

“We are ready [for negotiations], based on the principles [agreed in Riyadh]”, he told Reuters.