Vienna Mediators Agree on Assad's Exclusion From Presidential Vote - Ankara

The last round of international talks on Syria took place in Vienna on Saturday and was devoted to defining a political solution to the country's civil war.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — Participants of the Vienna meeting on the Syrian settlement have reached a consensus over the exclusion of President Bashar Assad in future presidential election in Syria, the Turkish foreign minister said Wednesday.

"The majority agreed that the achievement of settlement and peace will be impossible if Assad remains in power. A broad consensus was reached over his non-participation in the election," Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu told Anadolu news agency.

Commenting on Moscow's position, Sinirlioglu said that the Turkish side had not seen "negative reaction from the Russian side."

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that no agreements had been made in regard to President Bashar Assad’s exclusion from the political settlement in Syria.

The fate of Assad has been a stumbling block in the Syrian peace talks with the United States and its allies insisting he must step down and Russia saying that the Syrian people should decide on his future.

During the previous round of Vienna talks on October 30, diplomats worked out a nine-point plan on ending the Syrian civil war, including a definition of national unity, the defeat of extremist groups and assistance to refugees.