The United States wants to see a strong and powerful Russia, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview with Sergey Brilev, host of the Vesti v Subbotu (Saturday News) show on Rossiya-1 television.
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The United States, alongside other western nations, are at odds with Russian Federation on Syrian President Bashar Assad in calling for his ouster.
Ending the war, which has claimed about a quarter of a million lives and sent millions of refugees fleeing into Europe, is crucial to battling the even greater threat of the brutal Islamic State organization, the Obama administration argues. The resulting chaos has allowed ISIS to step in and occupy wide swaths of Syria and neighboring Iraq.
Friday’s talks follow a meeting last week in Saudi Arabia in which Syrian opposition groups agreed to unite to negotiate with the regime on a ceasefire.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, stated the resolution adopted by the United Nations council underscored that the political transition needed to be led by Syrians, which is a “clear response to attempts to impose a solution from the outside… on any issues, including those regarding its president”. “The progress has not been as dramatic as we would like it to be….” “Now that we have a United Nations resolution … and a process moving”, he said, “the door is much more open … for us to consider greater ways of cooperation”. But a deal remained elusive on Friday morning as talks among the 17 members of the so-called International Syria Support Group got underway at New York’s Palace Hotel. He sharply disputed the notion that the agreement deferred a decision on Mr Assad’s fate, saying it put a time frame on what needs to happen next.
Those positions have required significant juggling on Kerry’s part. The US wants him gone. “The idea that he could once again stand for elections is unacceptable to us”.
Nevertheless, Kerry – who has already “agreed to disagree” with Moscow on Assad’s fate – said the vote would act as a springboard for forging ahead with peace talks.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made a surprise visit to a Damascus church on Friday evening, where a famous choir was rehearsing for the holiday seasons.
Talks focused on a political transition will begin next month.
It calls for “credible, inclusive and nonsectarian governance” within six months and “free and fair elections, pursuant to the new constitution”, within 18 months.
The Assad government has submitted a list of more than three dozen representatives to participate in transition talks.
There is also disagreement over which opposition groups should form part of the negotiations.
This would include, but may not limited to, the Islamic State group and the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
“Why didn’t they fight terrorism from the very beginning, before [IS] appeared?” This means that airstrikes by Russia, France and the U.S.-led coalition apparently would not be affected, nor would military action by the extremists.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said there was “some movement” in the talks on Syria, adding that one goal of the NY meetings was to clarify the timeline for peace talks between the government and opposition.
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By contrast, British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the draft was “in good shape”.
