French FM says Syria’s Assad has ‘won the war’

France’s foreign minister says Syrian President Bashar Assad has won his country’s civil war but won’t “win the peace” without a political solution brokered by the international community.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also reiterates threats of Western retaliation if Assad cedes to the “temptation” of using chemical weapons in the looming battle for the northern Idlib province, the last major opposition stronghold.

Le Drian says on France-Inter radio that “Assad won the war, we have to state this. But he hasn’t won the peace.”

He says that even if Assad’s forces retake Idlib, that won’t solve the problems that unleashed the war seven years ago.

He says France will press at this month’s UN General Assembly for a political solution in Syria, and is holding talks with Russia, Turkey and Iran to push them to use their influence with Assad to ensure political negotiations after the war ends.

— AP