Syrian troops have also been supported by Iranian forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters in a push to regain territory, largely in the north, lost to insurgents during nearly five years of conflict.
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It would be put to a popular referendum and followed by an early presidential election.
Russian air strikes and the Syrian government’s army proved an effective tag team in defeating ISIS on Tuesday, as Bashar al-Assad’s forces finally ended an ISIS siege on the Kweires air base in the northern region of Aleppo province. The USA, Britain and other countries have said he could remain in power for a short transition period but must then go.
“Ministers stressed a need for constructive approaches and clear coordination of worldwide efforts in fighting terrorism and assisting the quickest launch of an inter-Syrian political dialog”, the Russian foreign ministry said Wednesday after a telephone call between Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Konashenkov said that the Syrian army has succeeded in defeating 7 groups of almost 900 terrorists in al-Azizya, Kafr Haddad and Tal Mamou where their remnants left their sites.
The draft document, obtained by Reuters, envisages negotiations between Assad and moderate Syria opposition on candidates who will lead the transition process.
Separately, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said that if Assad’s departure were not completed peacefully, it would be achieved militarily, although he did not address the Russian proposal. Erdogan, who spoke by telephone with Obama this week, said Wednesday that his government is prepared to take unspecific “stronger steps” to support a safe zone where Syrian refugees from the fighting, as well as opposition combatants, can be protected from government airstrikes.
It says certain Syrian opposition groups should take part in key talks on the crisis in Vienna on Saturday.
But they carefully avoided the issue of when Assad might leave power, a dispute at the heart of the conflict, which has claimed more than 250,000 lives and generated more than 4 million refugees. In addition to the humanitarian disaster the conflict has caused, the administration thinks the continuation of the war undercuts its higher priority of defeating the Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq.
“The momentum in Vienna needs to not be missed”, he told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council.
Syrian legislator Sharif Shehadeh, a member of the ruling Baath party, told The Associated Press there will be no presidential vote before Assad’s latest term ends in 2021.
He also dismissed the idea of holding elections under the current system saying, “how can the elections be fair when the citizens inside Syria are afraid of retaliation from the security services of the regime”.
World powers will meet again in Vienna this weekend to thrash out a list of “legitimate” rebel representatives to be included in future talks on ending Syria’s war.
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On Tuesday, US Air Force General Herbert Carlisle said communications with Russian Federation have vastly improved since the start of Moscow’s bombing campaign, with twice-daily talks and a hotline set up.
