US, Russia discuss peace plan that would end Syria's isolation

The United States and Russia are in talks on a "potential way forward" that would see Syria come out of international isolation if it agrees to a series of steps including a ceasefire in Idlib, the US envoy for Syria has said.

Jim Jeffrey told reporters on Wednesday following a closed-door UN Security Council meeting that Moscow and Washington were exploring a "step by step approach" to ending the eight-year war, but that this would require "hard decisions."
But the US envoy said that "so far we haven't seen steps such as a ceasefire in Idlib, the convening of a constitutional committee that would give us confidence that the Assad regime actually understands what it must do to end this conflict."
Vershinin said Russia is "ready to coordinate" with the United States to develop a "common vision about how we want to have a sustainable political settlement in Syria."