The goal of diplomatic efforts to end the four-year-old conflict in Syria is to reach a long-term solution that does not involve Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday, December 16, Reuters reports.

"This is about ending the war in Syria without Assad ... Assad can never be part of a long-term solution," Merkel told German lawmakers in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, drawing applause.