Speaking with Italian state TV, Assad said the timeline for transition cannot begin until “after starting to defeat terrorism” and that no deadline for a transition can be set while a few parts of Syria are not controlled by the government.
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The Russian draft text was first presented to the Security Council in late September but was rejected by the United States, Britain and France over a provision that calls for battling the IS extremists with the consent of the Syrian regime – a Moscow ally.
In a speech after a seven-hour police siege linked to last week’s attacks in Paris, Hollande vowed to work with allies to destroy the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for bomb and gun attacks. “We will not accept the idea that terrorist assaults on restaurants and theaters and hotels are the new normal, or that we are powerless to stop them”, Obama said. Even as French President Francois Hollande takes on the role of bridge builder with back-to-back trips next week to Washington and Moscow, powerful centrifugal forces are still pulling the would-be partners apart as competing national interests challenge efforts to translate that newly shared aspiration into a sustained collaboration over time. The effort was led, in large part, by the United States, and the US, relative to many European countries, had very little to lose in cutting off lanes of commerce with Moscow.
Ending the four year war in Syria has taken on increasing urgency as the Islamic State group has gained more and more territory, assets and recruits.
Western countries have realized that issuing an ultimatum on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s stepping down, expecting this would settle problems in the country, are futureless, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Russia’s Radio on Thursday.
Portraying himself as the only viable alternative to jihadi rule, Assad has labeled all his enemies “terrorists” – a designation that, in the wake of the recent attacks on civilians by IS, may find greater resonance.
Assad said if Syria’s people want presidential elections “there will be no red line” against holding them.
According to the minister, the attitude of a particular country towards the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad has no importance for the Islamic State terrorist organization.
“The most powerful tool we have is to say we are not afraid”, Obama said as he wrapped up a nine-day trip to Turkey and Asia that was shadowed by terrorist attacks.
Trust Russian President Vladimir Putin to go against the western sanctions and diktats.
Mr Obama also warned that while the fighting continued in Syria, there was no hope of eliminating IS.
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“When the Charles de Gaulle comes to the shores of Syria, joint military work will be organized”, he said, according to Russian news agencies. A White House official said no matter what happens in Syria, the USA won’t lift crippling economic sanctions against Russian Federation until it fulfills its obligations under a Ukraine peace deal reached in February.
