Understanding Between Assad, Int'l Community Needed for Peace in Syria

© AP Photo / Bilal HusseinA Syrian who lives in Lebanon holds a photo of Syrian President Bashar Assad, during a rally to thank Moscow for its intervention in Syria, in front of the Russian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015
A Syrian who lives in Lebanon holds a photo of Syrian President Bashar Assad, during a rally to thank Moscow for its intervention in Syria, in front of the Russian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015 - Sputnik International
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Reaching an understanding between the international community and Syrian President Bashar Assad is essential to end the conflict in the Middle Eastern country, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Wednesday.

MADRID (Sputnik) — On Saturday, the last round of international meetings on a Syria settlement took place in Vienna. The mediators agreed that formal talks between the Syrian government and the opposition must take place by January, with a view to have presidential elections in the country within 18 months.

"If we want peace, then we should look for understanding with the Syrian president at least during the transitional period," Garcia-Margallo told Spain's national broadcaster, TVE.

The foreign minister added that the struggle against the Islamic State militant group was the most essential issue in the Middle East at the moment and it should be solved despite the existing political differences between the parties to the international talks on Syria.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (centre R), U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (C) and foreign ministers attend a meeting in Vienna, Austria - Sputnik International
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He also said that it was necessarily to replace the dilemma "with or without Assad" with the dilemma "peace or war."

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 it is for the people of Syria to decide on his future.

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