Syria conflict: Leaked Russian peace plan makes no mention of President Assad stepping down

Opposition fears proposals are aimed at keeping Mr Assad in power

President Bashar al-Assad speaks with Vladimir Putin last month (Getty Images)

Russia has circulated a plan to end the Syrian conflict but the leaked document makes no mention of what will happen to President Bashar al-Assad.

The proposal calls for the drafting of a new constitution within 18 months. It would be put to a popular referendum and be followed by an early presidential election.

Mr Assad, who is backed by Vladimir Putin, would not chair the constitutional commission under Moscow’s plans to end five years of conflict.

The document calls for UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura to launch a political process between the Syrian government and “a united delegation of the opposition groups”.

Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Vladimir Safronkov, while expressing regret that the document had been leaked, said: “It’s our vision – it’s our proposal.”

He added: “And, of course, we are receptive to proposals from the other side. It’s just Russia’s contribution – how we launch a political process to make parties work together, government and opposition.”

The document was circulated ahead of a second round of talks in Vienna on Saturday among key governments on both sides of the conflict.


 Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces bury a comrade on Wednesday. He was killed fighting Isis in the north-eastern Syrian city of al-Hol (AFP)
 (Getty Images)

Mr De Mistura told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council that his message to the 15 members was “one word – momentum”.

“We’re aware of the Russian proposals,” said the British ambassador to the United Nations, Matthew Rycroft. “We welcome any constructive ideas that will accelerate an end to this terrible conflict.”

The Russian document – Approach To The Settlement of The Syrian Crisis – focuses on both opposition and “terrorist groups ” and the need to differentiate between them.

It calls for the Security Council to list Isis as “a terrorist organisation” and agreement on an additional list of terrorist groups.

It said the composition of the opposition delegation to the political talks had to be agreed beforehand.

This would be based on the readiness of groups to share the goals of preventing terrorists from coming to power and of ensuring sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence for Syria.

The Russian proposal faced opposition from both sides of the conflict. Syrian politician Sharif Shehadeh, a member of the ruling Baath party, said there would be no presidential vote before Mr Assad’s latest term ends in 2021. He added that parliamentary elections are an internal Syrian affair and that it was still too early to hold them. “Regarding presidential elections there will be no talk about it. The president has a term and when it ends then we can talk about it,” he said.

Prominent opposition figure Haitham al-Maleh said Russia, which began launching air strikes in support of Assad’s troops at the end of September, was an “occupation force” in Syria. He added that the opposition would not accept any role for Mr Assad during the transition.

“We will not accept that the regime stays even for 24 hours. Bashar should be detained and put on trial,” Mr al-Maleh, a senior member of the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition, said.

Mr al-Maleh said that Russia wanted the current regime to stay and that the Russian air campaign “will be defeated”.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said that the key subject on the agenda of the weekend talks in Vienna would be the creation of a list of opposition groups that could be part of political talks and a list of “terrorists”. She said that the Syrian people, not Russia, should decide what role Mr Assad should play.

AP