Syrian Transition Plan Reached by U.S., Russia in Vienna

  • Diplomats agree on UN-supervised elections within 18 months
  • Rebel leaders will be invited to negotiations by Jan. 1

United Nations and Arab League Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, left, US Secretary of State John Kerry, center, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chat before the meeting of the third round of Syria Talks.

Photographer: Thomas Trutschel /Photothek via Getty Images
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Seventeen nations, spurred on by Friday’s deadly attacks in Paris, overcame their differences on how to end Syria’s civil war and adopted a timeline that will let opposition groups help draft a constitution and elect a new government by 2017.

As a first step, the United Nations agreed to convene Syria’s government with opposition representatives by Jan. 1, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday at a joint press conference in Vienna. A cease-fire between the government in Damascus and recognized opposition groups should be in place within six months, according to their statementBloomberg Terminal.