At heart of Syria talks, what to do about Assad

Vienna — The success or failure of the Syrian peace talks this week is tied to the fate of one man who’s not even at the table: President Bashar Assad.

Neither Assad nor any of his representatives are in Vienna, where U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry and senior diplomats from almost 20 other countries began negotiations Thursday. The broad group of governments is looking for a plan that might persuade Syria’s government and its Western-backed rebels to agree to a national cease- fire and start a long process of “political transition.” Even bitter foes Iran and Saudi Arabia will be sitting with their powerful partners, Russia and the United States. That reflects the urgency all parties say they’re attaching to finding a peace formula.

Assad’s future has been a stumbling block to all efforts aimed at ending the fighting. U.S. President Barack Obama demanded that Assad leave power in 2011. The United States and its allies have since suggested that Assad can remain in office for months as part of the transition if he agrees to resign at the end of the process. But even that demand has been too much for Russia and Iran, who are both engaged alongside Assad’s forces, and neither of the Syrian sides has suggested they would support such a plan.

In Vienna, Kerry is being joined by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and counterparts from other nations, all hoping to get past disagreements that have held back international mediation efforts.

“We’ve a lot of very important meetings. We’ll see what happens,” Kerry said as he kicked off his first session, with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz. Kerry then met with the U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. He later met with the foreign ministers of Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey ahead of bigger talks today.

Assad’s term ends in 2021 and Russian lawmakers said he was willing to hold early presidential elections— but would be on the ballot. Assad himself appears to be digging in; his office issued a statement this week reiterating that he would not consider any political initiatives “until after eradicating terrorism.”