Diplomacy the best way to end crisis in Syria

A fighter from the Free Syrian Army's Al Rahman legion carries a weapon as he walks towards his position on the front line against the forces of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, Syria, in this July 27, 2015 file photo. Only four or five US-trained Syrian rebels were still fighting in Syria, a top general told Congress on September 16, 2015, a stark admission of setbacks to a fledgling military program that critics have already pronounced a failure. [Photo/Agencies]

Participants in the Vienna talks, held on Friday in the Austrian capital, have failed to agree upon the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But a ray of hope did emerge as the conference concluded that a diplomatic process led by the United Nations should be initiated to find a solution to the crisis in Syria.

The Vienna conference, the third international conference on Syria since the crisis broke out in 2011, was attended by top diplomats from 17 countries, along with representatives from the UN and the European Union. The consensus reached marks a positive development in the international efforts to resolve the crisis in peace.

For the first time, an international conference on Syria has brought together all the main outside players in the crisis, including Russia and Iran, key allies of the Syrian government.

With Russia's bombing of Islamic State targets in Syria entering its second month and Iran's rapprochement with the West after a landmark nuclear deal between the two sides in July, both Moscow and Teheran are poised to play a bigger role in the Syria crisis.

Yet, with Russia and Iran resisting Western and Saudi Arabian pressure to force Assad away from power, it looks as difficult as ever for the major players in the region to bridge their differences in a short time.

Although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a joint press conference after the talks that the gap between them would not stand in the way of ending the war in Syria, the rest of the world remains skeptical about the prospects for cooperation between the two powers in Syria.

At the same time at the Vienna talks the White House said US President Barack Obama has authorized the first sustained deployment of special forces to Syria, which marks a U-turn in the US' long-time principle of not putting US boots on the ground. On Saturday the US also pledged further support for Syria's opposition－nearly $100 million in fresh aid.

These are clear evidence that the US has no intention to refrain from its interventionist policy towards Syria, but only wants to involve itself deeper in the crisis. The increasing military involvement of the US in Syria has naturally drawn concerns that it will increase the likelihood of a confrontation between the two big powers in the region.

Since the Syria crisis broke out, the US-led West has intervened by waging a proxy war－supporting the Syria rebels to press for a regime change. Five years passed and the country has only become more chaotic: Syria's civil war shows no sign of abating and the rise of the IS group has further worsened the security situation in the country and beyond.

The diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the crisis might be a difficult process but the international community should remain committed to apolitical resolution as it is the only way to defuse the crisis in peace.

The talks are to be resumed in two weeks to push the diplomatic process forward. In the meantime, major players in the region should maintain good faith in political resolutions.

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Li Baodong attended the Vienna talks, proposing an immediate ceasefire in Syria and stressing that the different sides should pledge to fight against terrorism.

China also proposed initiating reconstruction in Syria after the war and insisted that the Syrian people should decide the future of the country for themselves.

What happened in the past five years shows military intervention has only led to an escalation of the conflict in Syria. Diplomatic means are the only way to defuse the crisis and deal with other issues such as the refugees and terrorism.

The author is a senior writer with China Daily. wanghui@chinadaily.com.cn