各国外交官呼吁结束叙利亚战争

Dozens of diplomats have ended hours of talks on the Syria crisis in Vienna, with agreements reached on several points but substantial differences, especially concerning the future of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, remaining.

A joint statement issued after the meeting says the ministers have agreed to ask the United Nations to initiate a political process that hopefully could lead to a ceasefire and elections in Syria.

After the lengthy meeting in Vienna, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said participants in the talks were not trying to mask problems and issues.

"That is not so, we are honestly talking to you about these disagreements. The principles that have been created here today in the joint statement will be the basis for serious work which will be hard, I have no doubt. It will not be a fast process, but this work will make it possible to create trust, especially among the countries of the region. They have some serious issues, but today they sat down round the negotiating table and they held talks. With that kind of trust we can make sure the Syrian people will have the chance to decide their future," said Lavrov.

However a sticking point at the meeting is the position of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with the United States insisting that he could neither unite nor govern his country.

Acknowledging its position, US Secretary of State John Kerry also pledged a stronger diplomatic effort to solve the Syrian civil war.

"But we can't allow that difference to get in the way of the possibility of diplomacy and the beginning of　a final solution. And that is the significance of the decision that was earlier made here today was that even though we acknowledge the difference, we know it is urgent to get to the table and to begin the process of real negotiations," said  Kerry.

As the Chinese representative to the meeting, vice Foreign Minister Liu Baodong said the Chinese side had put forward its own proposals.

"And strongly we believe that the future of Syria must be determined by the people in Syria and we should start a political process as soon as possible. And the political process must be inclusive and widely participated by all the parties in Syria. And also we believe that we should start reconstruction process," said Liu.

The international talks gathered diplomats from key players including the United States, Britain and Russia, as well as other regional stakeholders.

They included Iran for the first time, making it the broadest gathering of nations yet to discuss Syria's future.

Tehran signaled it would back a six-month political "transition" period in Syria followed by elections to decide Assad's fate, although his foes rejected the proposal as a trick to keep the president in power.

The Vienna talks also see agreement on improving access to humanitarian aid into Syria, where 250,000 people are believed dead since the civil war began four years ago.

Diplomats also agreed to meet again in two weeks.