Envoy: U.S. no longer seeking to topple Syria's AssadDecember 18, 2018 - 18:27 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States is no longer seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his government, Washington’s envoy to Syria James Jeffrey said on Monday, December 17, Al-Masdar News reports. “We want to see a regime that is fundamentally different. It’s not regime change — we’re not trying to get rid of Assad,” Jeffrey said at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank. According to Jeffrey, the U.S. is not willing to give any money for reconstruction in Syria until Washington sees a significant push by Damascus to change politically. “There is a strong readiness on the part of Western nations not to ante up money for that disaster unless we have some kind of idea that the government is ready to compromise and thus not create yet another horror in the years ahead,” he added. The comments by Jeffrey come just a week after he told reporters that the U.S. will not be leaving Syria until there was an irreversible political process and a complete withdrawal of Iranian forces inside the country. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. |