VIENNA, Austria – Some 20 countries and international bodies began a high-stakes meeting in Vienna on Saturday, November 14, to find a solution to Syria's civil war, as multiple attacks in Paris gave the talks new impetus.
The meeting is the 2nd round of talks in Vienna in 2 weeks, in the most significant effort yet to end the nearly 5-year conflict that has brought together regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as Russia.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said a spate of bloody attacks in Paris had given new meaning to global efforts to solve the war in Syria.
"It's another sad day and the meeting we are having in Vienna today is taking another kind of meaning," said Mogherini as she arrived for the meeting.
"The countries sitting around the table have almost all experienced the same pain, the same terror, the same shock over the last weeks," she said, referring to France, Lebanon, Russia, Egypt, Turkey.
A spate of coordinated attacks left 128 dead and 180 injured in Paris on Friday night, a day after twin bombings in Beirut left 44 dead, and nearly 2 weeks after IS claimed it downed a Russian jet leaving Egypt, killing 224 on board.
"This tells us very clearly we are all together in this. Europeans, Arabs, East and West we are all affected by terrorism and those that try and divide us," said Mogherini.
The conflict in Syria has sparked a refugee crisis in Europe and has given rise to the Islamic State group, which has terrorized many nations at the table.
French president Francois Hollande blamed the Islamic State for the brutal attacks in the capital on Friday, November 13.
"The just response is coming together, overcoming our differences and trying together to lead the way toward peace in Syria,” Mogherini said. – Rappler.com