U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will chair a meeting Friday of the U.N. Security Council to push efforts to end the civil war in Syria, the State Department said Wednesday. While in New York City, Kerry also will host a meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to discuss "efforts to foster a nationwide cease-fire and parallel political-transition negotiations to end the conflict while intensifying the fight" against ISIS militants, said spokesman John Kirby. The ISSG meeting follows talks in Vienna last month in which the United States, Russia, and European and Middle Eastern countries agreed on a plan for a political process in Syria leading to elections within two years. Kirby said the countries invited for the talks Friday morning were those that participated in Vienna. Syria did not take part.
