French President Francois Hollande called for a new international push for a peace deal in Syria on Friday, saying the fall of Palmyra to Islamic State showed President Bashar al-Assad was gravely weakened.
Once again we call for the preparation of a new Geneva, he said after an EU summit in Riga, referring to earlier conferences aimed at brokering a transition from Assad to Western-back rebels who have also lost ground to Islamic State.
With a regime that is clearly weakened, and with a Bashar al-Assad who cannot be the future of Syria, we must build a new Syria which can be rid, naturally, of the regime and Bashar al-Assad but also, above all, of the terrorists.
We should do all we can so that a political solution can be worked on, prepared, in the coming weeks, Hollande said, adding that Russia and the United States should be involved.
Asked if foreign military intervention was called for, he stressed that he was looking for a political solution.
(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Adrian Croft; @macdonaldrtr)