The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Friday unanimously approved a resolution on Syria calling for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks.
The council endorsed a political settlement to the Syrian crisis and demanded that all parties to the conflict including Bashar al-Assad's regime and moderate opposition groups immediately stop any attacks again civilian targets, according to RT. The Islamic State and Al Qaeda's Syrian branch - Al-Nusra Front - are excluded from the ceasefire.
"We see a country in ruins, millions of its people scattered across the world, and a whirlwind of radicalism and sectarianism that challenges regional and global security," Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said after the vote, according to U.N. News Centre.
The U.N.S.C. urged the U.N. to bring together Assad's regime and opposition rebels for formal negotiations on a transitional government from early January, 2016, according to France24. The peace resolution called for a Syrian-led political process to establish within six months credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance. It also asked the U.N. to set a schedule for drafting a new constitution, with free and fair elections to be held within 18 months under U.N. supervision with all Syrians, including members of the diaspora, eligible to vote.
"This council is sending a clear message to all concerned that the time is now to stop the killing in Syria and lay the groundwork for a government that the long-suffering people of that battered land can support," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after the vote, according to DW.
Meanwhile, moderate opposition groups remain adamant on their demand of Assad's removal. Riad Hijab, a former Syrian prime minister and head of a committee of rebel groups, said that no peace talks would be possible unless Assad stepped down.
"Assad and his government must not be in power, the transitional period has to be without him and he must be tried for his crimes," Hijab said, according to Middle East Eye.
More than 300,000 people were killed in the five-year-long Syrian war.
