The head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said today that after the attack of Western countries in Syria, it is now up to Russia to put pressure on President Bashar al-Assad in order to find a political solution to the crisis.
"Now we hope that Russia will understand that after the military response, it is necessary to make a joint effort to promote the political process in Syria in order to get out of the crisis. France is ready for that step," said Le Drian in an interview with the Journal de Dimanche ( Journal du dimanche).
The French minister added that "it is Assad who is blocking the political process and it is up to Russia to put pressure on him."
Le Drian assessed that the first "necessary stage" is the establishment of a cease-fire that would be respected by all, as stated in the previous resolutions of the UN Security Council.
According to him, the attacks carried out yesterday by the forces of the USA, Great Britain and France in Syria should "enable the resumption of negotiations within the framework of the UN".
Yesterday, a few hours after the attacks carried out following the accusation that Assad's forces used chemical weapons in the recent attack in Douma near Damascus, Le Drian said that France wants to work "immediately" on the continuation of the political process of solving the Syrian crisis.
"A plan to get out of the crisis needs to be found with a political solution. We are ready to work now with all countries that can contribute to that solution," said the head of French diplomacy.
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