SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Moscow. (Photo: Sergey Guneev/Sputnik News)
Regime-Change Turnaround: Kerry Says Assad Can Stay...For Now
Obama administration shifts from previous stance that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should step—or be forced—aside
Dec 16, 2015
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry emerged from talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and announced a new stance on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: He can stay--at least, for now.
"The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change," Kerry told reporters in Moscow after the meeting.
The statement represented a distinct turnaround from the Obama administration's previous position that Assad should step--or be forced--aside while the international community proceeded with the bombing of his country.
Russia has maintained that Assad must be included in international negotiations, and that the matter of his departure was one the Syrian people should decide.
On Tuesday, Kerry said the focus now is "not on our differences about what can or cannot be done immediately about Assad." Rather, he claimed, it is on facilitating a process in which "Syrians will be making decisions for the future of Syria."
Despite this, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters that key differences still remain, including, according to AP, "which rebel groups in Syria should be allowed to participate in the transition process and which should be deemed terrorists, and like the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, combatted by all."
Appearing alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kerry also announced that an international conference on the Syrian conflict would take place in New York later this week.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry emerged from talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and announced a new stance on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: He can stay--at least, for now.
"The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change," Kerry told reporters in Moscow after the meeting.
The statement represented a distinct turnaround from the Obama administration's previous position that Assad should step--or be forced--aside while the international community proceeded with the bombing of his country.
Russia has maintained that Assad must be included in international negotiations, and that the matter of his departure was one the Syrian people should decide.
On Tuesday, Kerry said the focus now is "not on our differences about what can or cannot be done immediately about Assad." Rather, he claimed, it is on facilitating a process in which "Syrians will be making decisions for the future of Syria."
Despite this, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters that key differences still remain, including, according to AP, "which rebel groups in Syria should be allowed to participate in the transition process and which should be deemed terrorists, and like the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, combatted by all."
Appearing alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kerry also announced that an international conference on the Syrian conflict would take place in New York later this week.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry emerged from talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and announced a new stance on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: He can stay--at least, for now.
"The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change," Kerry told reporters in Moscow after the meeting.
The statement represented a distinct turnaround from the Obama administration's previous position that Assad should step--or be forced--aside while the international community proceeded with the bombing of his country.
Russia has maintained that Assad must be included in international negotiations, and that the matter of his departure was one the Syrian people should decide.
On Tuesday, Kerry said the focus now is "not on our differences about what can or cannot be done immediately about Assad." Rather, he claimed, it is on facilitating a process in which "Syrians will be making decisions for the future of Syria."
Despite this, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters that key differences still remain, including, according to AP, "which rebel groups in Syria should be allowed to participate in the transition process and which should be deemed terrorists, and like the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, combatted by all."
Appearing alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kerry also announced that an international conference on the Syrian conflict would take place in New York later this week.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.