US, Russia discuss ending Assad’s isolation

The US and Russia are in talks to end the eight-year international isolation of the Syrian regime, American envoy to Syria Jim Jeffrey told reporters yesterday.

This came in the wake of a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council, stating that both countries are exploring a “step by step approach” to end Syria’s isolation, stressing this would require “hard decisions”.

He also said that Russia and the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed this issue earlier this month, adding that a plan for this “would allow a Syrian government that adheres to [UN resolution] 2254 to move back into the international community.”

This resolution calls for peace negotiations, the drafting of a new constitution and UN-supervised elections.

However, he said: “So far we haven’t seen steps such as a ceasefire in Idlib, the convening of a constitutional committee that would give us confidence that the Assad regime actually understands what it must do to end this conflict.”

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