Saying that “the military operation is really coming to an end,” Mr. Putin told Mr. Assad that it was time to work toward a lasting political settlement. Parallel Russian- and American-led campaigns against the Islamic State have largely shattered the group’s territorial self-declared caliphate. “The main thing is to move to political processes,” Mr. Putin told Mr. Assad, according to Russian state news media. But that remains unacceptable to many rebels and political opposition groups, and Mr. Assad has been accused in European courts of presiding over large-scale war crimes. Initial plans for the meeting called for inviting 33 Syrian opposition groups, some tolerated by Damascus, as well as Kurdish groups, a much broader range than those included in the Geneva process.

Source: New York Times November 21, 2017 14:48 UTC