00:51France: Geneva Conference 2, helping Syria negotiate peace
France: Geneva Conference 2, helping Syria negotiate peace
United States Secretary of State John Kerry met in a Paris hotel with Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov on Monday to discuss the details about their proposed 'Geneva conference 2'. The potential upcoming conference asks all parties of the Syrian conflict to gather together to negotiate peace talks to help resolve the conflict in Syria.
These talks will use past standards on what defines a humanitarian treatment of war, as outlined in the 1949 Geneva Conventions, as the basis for their negotiations. The conference would be a follow-up to the Geneva meeting held in June 2012, which drafted a Syrian peace plan.
Both Russia and America have publicly expressed differences regarding Syria. Russia supports the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, evident when they vetoed in 2012 the United Nations Security Council proposal asking Assad to step down, while US President Obama recently spoke of the Syrian president in March as "a leader who has lost all legitimacy".
Despite opposing views the two politicians both spoke of their concern for the potential use of chemical weapons in Syria, with Kerry saying he wanted to get evidence and assert what has happened in that regard. The two countries also said that they strongly reject the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Lavrov says he will persuade various Syrian participants of both sides to come to the meeting table for talks, along with foreign countries in order to co-operate in the efforts to solve the Syrian conflict, saying it is "not an easy task."
The European Unions' (EU) ban on arming Syrian militants was lifted on Monday after lengthy talks by European ministers in Brussels. Both Britain and France have already expressed a public interest in having the EU arms embargo lifted earlier than May so weapons could be supplied to the Syrian opposition.
Debates continue about which parties will participate in the Geneva conference however it is expected by Sunday a decision will be made.
00:51France: Geneva Conference 2, helping Syria negotiate peace
United States Secretary of State John Kerry met in a Paris hotel with Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov on Monday to discuss the details about their proposed 'Geneva conference 2'. The potential upcoming conference asks all parties of the Syrian conflict to gather together to negotiate peace talks to help resolve the conflict in Syria.
These talks will use past standards on what defines a humanitarian treatment of war, as outlined in the 1949 Geneva Conventions, as the basis for their negotiations. The conference would be a follow-up to the Geneva meeting held in June 2012, which drafted a Syrian peace plan.
Both Russia and America have publicly expressed differences regarding Syria. Russia supports the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, evident when they vetoed in 2012 the United Nations Security Council proposal asking Assad to step down, while US President Obama recently spoke of the Syrian president in March as "a leader who has lost all legitimacy".
Despite opposing views the two politicians both spoke of their concern for the potential use of chemical weapons in Syria, with Kerry saying he wanted to get evidence and assert what has happened in that regard. The two countries also said that they strongly reject the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Lavrov says he will persuade various Syrian participants of both sides to come to the meeting table for talks, along with foreign countries in order to co-operate in the efforts to solve the Syrian conflict, saying it is "not an easy task."
The European Unions' (EU) ban on arming Syrian militants was lifted on Monday after lengthy talks by European ministers in Brussels. Both Britain and France have already expressed a public interest in having the EU arms embargo lifted earlier than May so weapons could be supplied to the Syrian opposition.
Debates continue about which parties will participate in the Geneva conference however it is expected by Sunday a decision will be made.