Vienna, AFP, 14 November 2015 – Some 20 countries and international bodies meet in Vienna again Saturday groping for a way out of Syria’s horrific civil war, with deep divisions over President Bashar al-Assad’s future and which rebel groups to back.
The second such gathering in two weeks comes as Syrian rebels suffer a number of setbacks in Syria and Iraq at the hands of Assad’s army helped by Russian air strikes, and Kurdish forces backed by the U.S.
Before leaving for Vienna, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned that a quick breakthrough was unlikely in the talks which bring together key players like Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and U.N. special envoy Steffan de Mistura.
“I cannot say… that we are on the threshold of a comprehensive agreement, no,” said Kerry, who arrived in the Austrian capital on Friday afternoon for preliminary talks with his Saudi, Turkish and UN counterparts.
“The walls of mistrust within Syria, within the region, within the international community are thick and they are high.”
In over four years, fighting between Assad’s regime and rebel groups as well as ISIS militants has killed over 250,000 people and forced millions into exile, leaving many of them stranded in neighboring states.

Map showing international support for the Syrian regime and opposition

Others have headed to Europe, where authorities have been on alert after several deadly militant attacks this year.
In the latest, 153 people were killed in a wave of coordinated attacks in Paris on Friday, including a massacre during a rock concert by men shouting “Allahu akbar” and blaming France’s military intervention in Syria.
At the last talks on October 30, the participants urged the U.N. to broker a peace deal between the regime and opposition to clear the way for a new constitution and U.N.-supervised elections.
Building on that, this round of talks in the Austrian capital will try to agree on a roadmap for peace that would include a ceasefire between Assad’s forces and some opposition groups.