Iran sits down with the United States, Russia, Europeans and key Arab states for the first time since the Syrian civil war began to discuss the future of the war-torn country.
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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.
A number of steps have been agreed upon at negotiations with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to make the fight against ISIS (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) more coordinated and efficient, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.
He announced that a major worldwide conference on Syria will take place later this week in NY.
But in Tuesday’s talks, the two sides did not focus on their differences or what could or could not be done immediately about Assad but on the political process, Kerry said. Yet, ten days before, Kerry said Syria needs Assad to achieve peace.
Kerry also confirmed the meeting would take place.
“The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change”, Kerry told reporters in the Russian capital after meeting President Vladimir Putin.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015.
“We support the idea of convening in NY another meeting of the International Syria Support Group at the ministerial levels this Friday”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after earlier talks with Kerry at Kremlin.
Publicly, Russia has maintained that Assad is the legitimate leader of Syria, and Putin’s spokesman in October said “it would be inappropriate to talk about a political settlement in conditions when a terrorist threat fraught with Syria’s disintegration and the loss of its territorial and political integrity is still dominating in the country”.
“There is not a single substantively new statement out of Moscow to suggest compromise on Assad”, says Mr. Strokan.
What happens to Assad now seems less important than what happens with the Islamic State, indicating a clear evolution in US strategy regarding Syria and Iraq.
Noting that the United States does not pursue a policy of isolating Russia, Kerry reaffirmed the ability of the two countries to work effectively while moving in the same direction and concentrating efforts in the fight against terrorism.
Agreements reached at two recent rounds of worldwide talks on Syria in Vienna marked a “strong beginning, opening up possibilities”, he said. Though Russia insists it is fighting “Islamic State” (IS) and other terrorist groups, Western nations have accused Moscow of attacking the “moderate” opposition forces as well.
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Using another name for Isis, Mr Hammond protested it was “unacceptable that Russian action is weakening the opposition and thus giving advantage to the very Daesh forces they claim to be against”.
