Much like Kerry’s overly optimistic goal of creating a Palestinian state within two years, the Syria plan is based more on the desire for peace than the prospects for it actually happening on the ground.
Advertisement
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday denied that an agreement on the fate of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad had been reached at the latest round of talks in Vienna, Austria, last week.
The Western countries’ policies in Syria have been further pushed into spotlight after a group claiming allegiance to ISIL killed 129 people and grievously injured 300 more in Paris on Friday night through a series of gun, bomb and suicide attacks.
But beneath the surface, major rifts remain. Following the talks, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Syria could be “weeks” away from a political transition.
Blair’s “confession is the most important evidence”, Assad added. “But we know that Assad is the problem, not the solution”.
The diplomat’s sentiments were echoed by other Western and Arab diplomats familiar with the closed-door Vienna talks. Beneath Reid’s eyes are two black-out tapes, one with the letters “MVP”, the other the Washington Nationals logo. The day before the killings in Paris, Obama said in an interview with ABC’s “This Week” that Islamic State had been “contained” geographically since the campaign began. “But there’s little, if anything, that’s been agreed on Syria”.
On Tuesday, France became the first country to invoke the European Union’s mutual-defense clause, in force since 2009, which says that if a country “is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other member states shall have toward it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power”.
Russian Federation blames the West for the persistent deadlock. That would give the dizzying array of opposition forces in Syria, including democratically elected councils in Aleppo and Homs, a chance to coordinate their demands and sketch out a political deal that they could live with.
“When the Charles de Gaulle comes to the shores of Syria, joint military work will be organized”, he said, according to Russian news agencies.
Speaking to Italian TV, Assad condemned recent terrorist attacks on France, Lebanon and Russian Federation, saying he empathized with those who had lost loved ones, but noted that Syria has been facing similar acts of terrorism for almost five years. That task has been assigned to Jordan.
Assad and Russian Federation have tended to view anyone opposed to Assad as a terrorist. Russian Federation and Iran insist that Assad should be allowed to run in future elections, while Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar insist that he be barred.
Mr Obama had said on Wednesday he thought the bombing of a Russian passenger jetover the Sinai Peninsula – for which Islamic State has taken responsibility – may lead Russia to change course in Syria.
Russia, which has conducted air campaign in Syria since September 30, sharply raised its intensity this week on President Vladimir Putin’s orders.
“This timetable starts after starting defeating terrorism”, Assad told Italy’s Rai television channel, referring to both the jihadist groups and Western-backed rebel groups operating in Syria.
“One year and a half (18 months) to two years is enough for any transition”.
Advertisement
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
