Amir Abdollahian reiterated Iran’s stance on the political fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and stated that the issue should exclusively be decided by the Syrian people.
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Lavrov said the Syrian government already had put forward its representatives, with the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, to begin immediate work on determining who should sit at the table as part of the opposition team.
He told reporters outside the talks that the countries wanted elections to be held in Syria in 18 months, but added: “No one has any illusions about how hard the task ahead will be”.
Within six months, the negotiations between the Syrian sides would have to set up a “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian” transitional administration that would draw up a new constitution and then hold free and fair elections within 18 months.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at a news conference with Kerry, said “we should not allow terrorism to take over the region just because the United States, Russia and the rest of the world can not agree on things”, including their separate airstrike campaigns in Syria.
Lavrov said that Russian Federation and the USA, which are both conducting bombing campaigns in Syria against Islamic State, would discuss possible additions to the list of terrorist groups at a later time, state news agency TASS reported.
The Russian Foreign Minister also said that following Saturday’s bilateral meetings he had the impression that the awareness of the need to establish that the most effective, comprehensive worldwide coalition in the fight against Islamic State and other terrorist organizations mentioned by Russian president Vladimir Putin is getting stronger and stronger. The diplomats have agreed on a way to enforce a cease-fire but failed to agree on which groups other than the Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates would not be eligible for the truce.
Our correspondent at the talks said they have inevitably been overshadowed by the events in Paris, but that participants emphasised that what happened in France only made it more pressing that they fight terrorism together and decisively. “Of course we need to be hopeful for the future, but we need more time“, he said on the sidelines of the Vienna talks.
“The airstrikes have increased, the battles [on the ground] have increased, the winter is coming”, said Zoabi, who recently left Syria after helping with aid efforts in the northern province of Aleppo.
More than 200,000 people have died and 11 million have been displaced since the Syrian government brutally suppressed a pro-democracy uprising in 2011, plunging the country into a bloody civil war.
Western powers, backing opposition rebels in Syria, have repeatedly demanded al-Assad step down to end the conflict, a position Russian Federation has in the past resisted.
Austria’s Foreign Minister offers his condolences to France’s Laurent Fabius during the Syria talks. “They are not allowed to say what should be changed in Syria in the structure and techniques”, he said.
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Syrian government forces and Assad’s militias “shelled us, [targeted] us with all types of weapons”, he said. In two years, there may not be much of a country to run at all.
