What you need to know about Syria today

The gruesome civil war in Syria that pits government forces against rebels is now in its 18th month. Here are the latest key developments:

Deputy PM: Al-Assad's resignation not an acceptable condition for dialogue

Any suggestions of President Bashar al-Assad resigning could be discussed only after a dialogue with Syrian rebels begins, Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said Tuesday, according to Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Setting his resignation "as a condition before dialogue means that there will be no dialogue," Jamil said during a visit to Russia, according to the report.

He added that "the entire Syrian people should be asked" about such a possibility. "If this issue is being imposed on us from abroad, it is a very dangerous precedent in international relations," he said, according to RIA Novosti.