10 April 2017, 08:31 GMT
UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — The United Nations continues to believe all relevant parties should re-commit to the Geneva process regarding Syria and the future government of Syria should be decided solely by Syrians, UN Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Monday.
"We would reiterate the importance of the process going on in Geneva, one of the issues on the agenda is transition, what is important is that the future leadership of Syria be decided by the Syrian people themselves as we’ve said it since the beginning of this crisis," Dujarric said.
The comment comes amid heated debates in the UN Security Council on the future political role in Syria of President Bashar Assad and his government.
7 April 2017, 16:38 GMT
Last week, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Washington believes the Syrian people no longer want Assad as their leader and stressed the United States will not accept him taking part in future elections.
Earlier on Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Assad cannot be part of the country’s medium- or long-term future.
Russia has repeatedly stated the people of Syria are the ones who should decide what will be the political future of Assad and determine who will lead them.
