Nations agree on new joint peace effort
VIENNA — The United States, Russia, Iran and more than a dozen other nations agreed Friday to launch a new peace effort involving Syria’s government and opposition groups, but carefully avoided any determination on when President Bashar Assad might leave power — perhaps the most intractable dispute of the conflict.
There was no guarantee that either Assad or the vast array of rebel groups fighting against him would join the push for peace.
The plan was hashed out after two days of discussions in Austria’s capital among some of the fiercest geopolitical foes on the planet, including governments fighting directly or by proxy on opposing sides in a civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people, uprooted 11 million from their homes, led to the emergence of the ISIL militant group and sparked a refugee crisis throughout Europe.
Although details were vague, the approach has clear differences with previous efforts. Chief among them: The U.S. and allies including Saudi Arabia softened calls for Assad’s quick removal from power. Russia and Iran didn’t rule out his eventual departure.
“Four-and-a-half years of war, we all believe, has been far too long,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters.
Kerry said the foreign ministers present in Austria’s capital all vowed to maintain Syria’s institutions, to protect the rights of all its citizens, to assure humanitarian access and to strive to defeat ISIL. He said the process should lead to a new constitution for Syria and internationally supervised elections, as well as an end to violence between Assad’s military and rebels so that the world community can focus on the counterterrorism challenge.