Kerry and Lavrov agreed to meet September 8-9 in Geneva to work on “remaining details for an agreement” on targeting terrorists and working to end the civil war, a foreign ministry statement said, according to Agence France-Presse.
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The US and Russian Federation conducted last-minute negotiations Thursday over a fresh bid for a Syrian peace deal ahead of an expected high-level meeting in Geneva.
The two men had been hoping to announce a deal at the G20 in China on Monday, but the agreement collapsed in acrimony after the U.S. reportedly accused Russian Federation of reneging on its previous commitments.
In the United States presidential campaign, Mrs Clinton, the Democratic candidate, has said little about her plans for Syria, the biggest foreign policy headache facing the new administration, but she is seen as more interventionist than Barack Obama.
The High Negotiations Committee plan presented in London Wednesday calls for a full cease-fire to take effect as six months of negotiations begin with Assad’s government.
It called for Assad’s departure after six months and for elections to be held under the auspices of a transitional government after two years.
But the U.S. has resisted coming to an agreement due to Russian and Syrian regime actions against civilians in the besieged, rebel-held city of Aleppo. The US suspects Russian Federation is holding out to give the Assad regime more time to capture rebel-held parts of the city, giving them a stronger claim to it when any future truce comes into effect.
He urged the global community to implement the UN-related resolutions to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people and achieve their aspirations for freedom and dignity.
Hijab, a former Syrian prime minister who defected to the opposition in 2012, blamed the failure of previous peace talks on “a refusal to talk about the political transition”.
“Such allegations are taken very seriously”.
In response to a question by Bays as to how the HNC will “restart the diplomatic process”, Hijab said: “We have gone through rounds of talks and a political process in 2014 and unfortunately we failed”.
What Syria will look like when the conflict is over: Russia’s involvement in the brutal and lengthy battle for Aleppo is thought to be driven by a desire to ensure that Assad and his regime are left with some sort of “rump state” to rule over once a peace deal is done.
He added: “There is still a chance that this vision can be made to work”.
The Foreign Secretary also called on Russian Federation to end its “seemingly indefensible” support for Mr Assad’s “killing machine”.
Johnson added: “The entire global community is committed, at least in principle, to getting rid of the Syrian dictator”.
In London on Wednesday, Syrian opposition leaders unveiled a plan for a political transition created to bring an end to the war. But then the Russians are also employing their military muscle to prevent him (Assad) from losing and to keep him in power.
The talks in London also involved foreign ministers from Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Italy, as well as representatives of Germany and the EU.
Corker said he still believed that the US could create safe zones in parts of Syria despite the presence of Russian aircraft.
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Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed in the fighting and 11 million – half of Syria’s pre-war population – displaced but no party in the multi-sided conflict appears poised for an imminent victory.
