The five nations who have the power of veto on the United Nations Security Council have agreed on the text of a draft resolution aimed at establishing peace in Syria
The document, approved by the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom, was agreed on by the 15-member body for the roadmap to a peace process in the war-torn country.
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It will endorse the previously agreed timetable for creating a transitional government in Syria and the holding of UN-monitored elections.
The text of the resolution also says the “Syrian people will decide the future of Syria”.
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Talks about the transition will be held between the Government and the opposition by early January, the resolution said.
It came as US President Barack Obama, in his pre-Christmas address, said that as long as Bashar al Assad remains Syrian President, Syria cannot be stable.
He added that there has to be an end to the civil war in Syria in order to prevent Islamic State having a safe haven.
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He said that ISIS is on the run, but will continue to be dangerous for some time.
The war in Syria is believed to have left more than 300,000 people dead and forced four million from their homes.
The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, requests that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convene representatives of the Syrian government and opposition “to engage in formal negotiations on a political transition process on an urgent basis, with a target of early January 2016 for the initiation of talks.”
Within six months, the process should establish “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance,” with U.N.-supervised “free and fair elections” to be held within 18 months.
The draft calls the transition Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, stressing that the “Syrian people will decide the future of Syria.”
The draft also says cease-fire efforts should move forward in parallel with the talks, and it asks Ban to report within a month of the resolution’s adoption on a way to monitor the cease-fire.
The Draft Resolution
The draft notes that the cease-fire “will not apply to offensive or defensive actions” against groups considered terrorist organizations, meaning that airstrikes by Russia, France and the U.S.-led coalition apparently would not be affected.
Meanwhile Friday, some 20 foreign ministers tackled those and other difficult issues for a possible end to Syria’s civil war, including sorting out which Syrian groups will represent the opposition in peace talks in the New Year.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said he presented lists submitted from each country of groups they consider terrorist organizations. He said some countries “sent 10, 15, 20 names” and others more.
“Now I think there will be follow-up steps in terms of countries meeting again to set criteria which will help filter the list,” said Judeh, whose country is tasked with putting the final list together.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the two most important issues are launching political negotiations among Syrian parties and implementing a U.N.-monitored cease-fire. “Without peace talks, the cease-fire cannot be sustained. Without a cease-fire, peace talks cannot continue to produce results,” he said.
Wang noted the “severe threat posed by international terrorism,” a reference to the Islamic State group, which has exploited the chaos to seize large parts of Syria.
A peace plan agreed to last month by 20 nations meeting in Vienna sets a Jan. 1 deadline for the start of negotiations between Assad’s government and opposition groups.
That deadline is “too ambitious a timetable,” the U.N. representative for the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed opposition group, told reporters Friday. Najib Ghadbian estimated that a month of preparation is needed.
Ghadbian also said a comprehensive solution to the conflict requires “the removal of all foreign troops from Syria, all of them,” including Russia, which began airstrikes there in September. The strikes are focused on more moderate forces fighting Assad in areas where the Islamic State group has little or no presence.
