Western countries called for the resumption of the political process in Syria which stalled because of the Assad regime’s refusal to abide by international resolutions demanding a ceasefire, improvement of the humanitarian conditions, and the formation of a Transitional Governing Body (TGB) with full executive powers, including the powers of the president.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that his country would join France for renewed international efforts to achieve a permanent ceasefire in Syria. Maas said Germany and France will work together to come up with an international formula that can give new impetus to the political process.
Maas noted that high-level representatives of the United States, France, Britain and Germany would hold consultations in London on the Syrian issue.
Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, called for the resumption of the political process in Syria to stop the bloodshed in the war-torn country.
The Syrian Coalition earlier stressed the goal of the Western strikes must be to force the Assad regime, Iran and Russia to engage in the political process and agree to start the political transition process without preconditions and in accordance with the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN Security Council resolutions 2118.
The Coalition said it saw the strikes as an important step towards crippling the Assad regime and undermining its military capabilities that it used to bomb Syrian cities with all types of banned weapons, including with chemical weapons. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)