US Vice President Joe Biden has ruled out a military solution to end the years-long conflict in Syria, urging all parties involved to focus on a political settlement.
“That should be clear to everyone,” Biden said in Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE, on Monday. “So as hard as it is, we have to keep trying to reach a political settlement.”
The stop in Abu Dhabi marks the beginning of Biden’s Middle East tour which involves stops in Israel, the West Bank and Jordan, the AFP reported.
Fighting in Syria has seen a sharp decrease after the agreement on the cessation of hostilities, negotiated by the US and Russia, went into effect on February 27.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi-backed opposition groups are slated to resume UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva as the shaky truce holds.
The negotiations aim to end the five-year conflict which has consumed the lives of at least 270,000 Syrians, displaced millions more and devastated the war-torn country’s infrastructure.