BRUSSELS, (MILLAT ONLINE/APP/AFP): The European Union and the
UN host a two-day conference starting Tuesday on Syria’s future, with Russian-backed President Bashar al-Assad as firmly in place as ever despite efforts to oust him.
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini has billed the gathering in Brussels as a follow-up to a donors’ conference last year in London, which raised about $11 billion (10 billion euros) for humanitarian aid programmes in the devastated country.
But the meeting is likely to be overshadowed by the Trump administration’s announcement last week that it would no longer focus on Assad’s removal, concentrating instead on the wider war against terrorism.
The United States had previously stuck by a UN-backed peace plan that would see Assad “transition” from office while an interim government was formed, but Washington appeared to back away from that last week.
An EU diplomatic source said the issue was likely to “be actively discussed on the sidelines of the conference”.