epa05074606 Hamid Imam, a Syrian who lives in Patterson, New Jersey, waves the Syrian revolutionary flag while gather with other protestors in front of United Nations headquarters as foreign ministers from major world powers gather to negotiate an proposed end to the Syrian civil war, in New York, New York, USA, 18 December 2015. Major world powers are convening at the United Nations Security Council in the hopes of establishing a road map for peace in the region. EPA/JUSTIN LANE

Source: Time

(UNITED NATIONS) — U.N. Security Council members agreed Friday on a resolution on a peace process for Syria involving talks by representatives of the Damascus government and the opposition, but the draft says nothing on the critical issue of what role President Bashar Assad will play.

Diplomats had rushed to overcome divisions on the draft resolution while world powers held the latest talks on how to bring an end to the conflict, which is deep into its fifth year with well over 300,000 killed.

The resolution has been described as a rare gesture of unity on the Syria peace process by a council often deeply divided on the crisis.

The U.S. and French ambassadors to the U.N. both expressed optimism ahead of the Security Council meeting, set for 4 p.m. (2100 GMT).

The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, requests that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convene representatives of the Syrian government and opposition “to engage in formal negotiations on a political transition process on an urgent basis, with a target of early January 2016 for the initiation of talks.”

Within six months, the process should establish “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance,” with U.N.-supervised “free and fair elections” to be held within 18 months.

The draft calls the transition Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, stressing that the “Syrian people will decide the future of Syria.”

The draft also says cease-fire efforts should move forward in parallel with the talks, and it asks Ban to report within a month of the resolution’s adoption on a way to monitor the cease-fire.

The draft notes that the cease-fire “will not apply to offensive or defensive actions” against groups considered terrorist organizations, meaning that airstrikes by Russia, France and the U.S.-led coalition apparently would not be affected.

Meanwhile Friday, some 20 foreign ministers tackled those and other difficult issues for a possible end to Syria’s civil war, including sorting out which Syrian groups will represent the opposition in peace talks in the new year.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said he presented lists submitted from each country of groups they consider terrorist organizations. He said some countries “sent 10, 15, 20 names” and others more.

“Now I think there will be follow-up steps in terms of countries meeting again to set criteria which will help filter the list,” said Judeh, whose country is tasked with putting the final list together.

Others around the table included the United States, key European nations, Saudi Arabia and top Syria allies Russia and Iran.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the two most important issues are launching political negotiations among Syrian parties and implementing a U.N.-monitored cease-fire. “Without peace talks, the cease-fire cannot be sustained. Without a cease-fire, peace talks cannot continue to produce results,” he said.

Wang noted the “severe threat posed by international terrorism,” a reference to the Islamic State group, which has exploited the chaos to seize large parts of Syria.

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