On Saturday, in the wake of Daesh (ISIS) related attacks in three different cities across the world, new talks convened in Vienna to address a political solution in Syria.
The meeting brought a half-cooked yet extensive peace plan agreed upon by nearly 20 nations, the Associated Press reports, marking headway in negotiations between sides that have so far been at odds (think Saudi Arabia vs. Iran, Russia vs. US).
What happened in Paris certainly spurred ramped up attention to ending the conflict and a driving out Daesh, but plenty of intricate questions still hang.
Here is a breakdown of the most important takeaways.
1. Negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition factions has a Jan. 1 deadline. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said government delegates have already been chosen, while a group from the opposition will be chosen by U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura.
2. A "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian" transitional government within the next six months should be followed by the drafting of a new constitution and UN-supervised elections within 18 months.
3. Daesh (ISIS) and al-Qaeda are immediately ineligible to take part in any political solution, but other factions are not so clear cut. What about Hezbollah, or hardline groups among the rebels? Lavrov said Jordan would be charged with determining which groups were deemed "terrorists" and therefore barred from participation in a selection process to be completed by the Jan. 1 negotiation deadline.
4. Washington has said Syria's future cannot include Assad, but Kerry changed tune. He said Syrians should instead determine the president's fate through a democratic process: He told reporters Saturday: "We did not come here to impose our collective will on the Syrian people, exactly the opposite... [they] will be and must be the validators of our efforts."
5. Russia, meanwhile, feels exactly as they always have. Kerry said the impetus behind foreign fighter involvement is Assad, meaning the conflict "can't end as long as Bashar Assad is there. That's the perception of the people waging the war." But Lavrov reiterated what Russia always does, saying both the war and its solution were "not about Assad."
