The world’s major powers agreed Friday on a draft UN Security Council resolution for the Syria peace process, diplomats said.
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It also calls for a nationwide ceasefire in the war-torn country.
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The 15-nation Security Council was scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) to discuss Syria, but it was not yet clear whether they would have a resolution to adopt.
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Foreign ministers from 17 countries, including Lavrov, Kerry and other European and Middle Eastern ministers, as well as top diplomats from regional rivals Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, were in NY for the Syria meetings.
A peace plan agreed to last month by 20 nations meeting in Vienna sets a January 1 deadline for the start of negotiations between Assad’s government and opposition groups.
Its adoption follows a meeting of diplomats at the International Syria Support Group in New York City Friday.
He said the resolution would not break new ground but would enshrine agreements from talks in Vienna and Geneva.
USA secretary of state John Kerry has already travelled to Moscow this week to assure Assad’s key Russian ally that Washington is not seeking “regime change” in Syria.
“What you’ve got is a move that will end up with Assad going”, a senior Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
But the resolution adopted Friday makes no mention of the most contentious issue – the future role of Syrian President Bashar Assad. It formalizes a target of six months for establishing a transitional government, followed by elections within 18 months.
Mr Hammond said: “This process necessarily involves the departure of Bashar al Assad, not only for moral reasons because of the destruction that he has unleashed on his own people, but also for practical reasons because it will never be possible to bring peace and unity to Syria as long as he remains in office”.
“Now we have a clear opposition that is not Daesh”, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said.
“We will not accept any pressure”.
Kerry did add that the United States still did not believe Assad “has the ability to be able to lead the future Syria”, and soon after his remarks, the State Department said the US policy that Assad should go remained unchanged.
Jordan’s foreign minister presented a draft list of “terrorist” groups that the ISSG nations will agree to exclude from the talks.
If a ceasefire can be reached in Syria’s civil war, then Syrian troops, Russian Federation and a US-led coalition can focus their fire on the hardline jihadist Daesh group.
Lang said the two most important issues are launching political negotiations and implementing the ceasefire.
The talks at the Palace Hotel in NY were the first ISGG meeting since a conference of opposition political and rebel forces in Riyadh that was aimed at unifying and creating a representative opposition negotiating team.
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They said Russian Federation had indicated it had no problem with the eventual ouster of Assad at the end of a transition period, though it would not admit that publicly.
