Hectic diplomatic efforts are underway to find a solution to the Syrian crisis. For the first time, there is a sense of urgency and various parties involved in the crisis are shedding their inhibitions and talking to each other. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a phone call with US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday, which is the fourth in as many days between the two leaders who have divergent views on the solution and the future of President Bashar Al Assad. Though it’s too early to predict an outcome, the fact that the two superpowers are engaged in talks is in itself a positive thing. These talks come after the visit of Assad to Moscow, which was his first foreign visit since the start of the uprising. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that in their talks, Lavrov and Kerry agreed on the need for all main governments in the region to take part in efforts to find a solution to the crisis.
US President Barack Obama and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman of Saudi Arabia also held talks on the conflict and decided to increase their support for the moderate Syrian opposition and reiterated the need to cooperate in fighting the Islamic State
militants.
Russia wants Iran to participate in the talks to be held in Vienna on Friday to discuss ending the conflict in Syria and according to a US official, Tehran has already been invited to the talks by the US and Russia. The Gulf countries are skeptical about this and have their reservations. But Russia has upped the ante with its military involvement in Syria. It was a calculated move, and as a result, Assad was able to strengthen his position and recapture some of the territory from the rebels. A dozen participants are expected to converge in Vienna and the different countries may eventually reach an agreement on a multilateral framework for transition of power in Syria.
The United Nations says the Syrian humanitarian crisis is worsening. Stephen O’Brien, the UN humanitarian affairs under secretary-general, told the UN Security Council that some 13.5 million Syrians are now in need of aid, including six million children. There had been an increase of 1.2 million people in need of aid over the past 10 months. The rest of the figures are even more shocking. More than 240,000 people have died in the war which is now in its fifth year. Some 6.5 million Syrians are displaced inside the country and 4.2 million have fled abroad in what can be called as “one of the largest displacement crises of modern times.”
Hectic diplomatic efforts are underway to find a solution to the Syrian crisis. For the first time, there is a sense of urgency and various parties involved in the crisis are shedding their inhibitions and talking to each other. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a phone call with US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday, which is the fourth in as many days between the two leaders who have divergent views on the solution and the future of President Bashar Al Assad. Though it’s too early to predict an outcome, the fact that the two superpowers are engaged in talks is in itself a positive thing. These talks come after the visit of Assad to Moscow, which was his first foreign visit since the start of the uprising. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that in their talks, Lavrov and Kerry agreed on the need for all main governments in the region to take part in efforts to find a solution to the crisis.
US President Barack Obama and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman of Saudi Arabia also held talks on the conflict and decided to increase their support for the moderate Syrian opposition and reiterated the need to cooperate in fighting the Islamic State
militants.
Russia wants Iran to participate in the talks to be held in Vienna on Friday to discuss ending the conflict in Syria and according to a US official, Tehran has already been invited to the talks by the US and Russia. The Gulf countries are skeptical about this and have their reservations. But Russia has upped the ante with its military involvement in Syria. It was a calculated move, and as a result, Assad was able to strengthen his position and recapture some of the territory from the rebels. A dozen participants are expected to converge in Vienna and the different countries may eventually reach an agreement on a multilateral framework for transition of power in Syria.
The United Nations says the Syrian humanitarian crisis is worsening. Stephen O’Brien, the UN humanitarian affairs under secretary-general, told the UN Security Council that some 13.5 million Syrians are now in need of aid, including six million children. There had been an increase of 1.2 million people in need of aid over the past 10 months. The rest of the figures are even more shocking. More than 240,000 people have died in the war which is now in its fifth year. Some 6.5 million Syrians are displaced inside the country and 4.2 million have fled abroad in what can be called as “one of the largest displacement crises of modern times.”
