UN Chief Says Vienna Talks on Syria First Significant Achiemevent

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the Syrian crisis conference in Vienna "first meaningful understanding among international actors since the 2012 Geneva Communique."

GENEVA (Sputnik) – The Syrian crisis conference in Vienna was the first significant achievement in the international arena since the 2012 Geneva communique, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday.

The meeting, which hosted top diplomats from the United States, Russia, Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Lebanon and France, was held in the Austrian capital on Friday. The participants reached mutual understanding on Syrian unity, the need to defeat extremist groups, assisting refugees, and the importance of the Syrian people to decide on the future of their state.

"This is the first meaningful understanding among international actors since the 2012 Geneva Communique, and the first one to have been reached in the presence of all the countries that hold the key to a resolution to the Syrian conflict," Ban said at a press briefing in Geneva.