U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praised “the unprecedented degree of unity” in the council, which has been stymied in the past over a political solution in Syria, and called the resolution “a milestone”.
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Kerry noted that serious differences remain between the United States, Russia and Iran over Assad’s future. There is, he said, a “clarity about the steps that need to be taken” and “a timeframe”.
“These kinds of measures are short of a ceasefire but certainly start to put into place the kind of mechanics on the ground that could lead in time to a broader ceasefire”, he said.
The resolution, adopted on Friday, calls for Syrian peace talks on a transitional government to begin in early January.
The conflict in Syria started in mid-2011 after protests against Assad’s rule were violently put down by government security forces. “But it is complicated”.
Endorsing the newly-approved road map by the United Nations in a statement, the ministry said the resolution was in line with the framework agreed upon in earlier meetings with broad-based participation.
Also in question is Assad’s fate.
Foreign ministers from 17 countries, gathering in NY on Friday before the council’s session, also failed to bridge differences including which opposition factions should be branded “terrorists”.
The resolution has a schedule for changing the political situation in Syria.
The text of the resolution also says the “Syrian people will decide the future of Syria”.
That deadline is “too ambitious a timetable”, the United Nations representative for the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed opposition group, told reporters Friday.
Those positions have required significant juggling on Kerry’s part.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond echoed Kerry’s concerns, stating the process must involve the departure of President Assad. “We want the same outcome”. “We understand the same challenges”. The church is only 2 km away from Jobar, a neighbourhood of the rebel-held eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus that has been the focus for months of heavy aerial bombardments and more recently Russian bombing that have left dozens of mostly civilian casualties. The decision desires the Syrian authorities & its opposition to embark, under the auspices of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on “urgent” discussions of a “political transition process” for the country.
Putin, in a news conference Thursday in Moscow, said that his plan for Syria coincided in “key aspects” with US goals: “working on the constitution, preparing elections in Syria and the recognition of their results”. Imposing and monitoring a cease-fire are impossible in areas under control of the Islamic State group.
The resolution acknowledges that the peace process will not end the conflict because it bars “terrorist groups” operating in the country, including the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front, from participating in a cease-fire.
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George Sabra, a member of the supreme negotiating body, demanded that the Islamic military coalition formed in Saudi Arabia recently play a role in Syria.
