LUXEMBOURG, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The European Union said Monday there can't be a political settlement to the Syrian crisis while the bloodshed continues.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, in its latest estimate, put the death toll in Syria at more than 2,900 since an uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began in March.
The EU, in a statement from foreign ministers gathered in Luxembourg, said there can't be a "credible" political process in Syria while killings and arbitrary detentions continue.
"President Assad must step aside to allow a political transition to take place in Syria," the statement added.
Assad has made several pledges of reform, though his Western critics have questioned his resolve given the ongoing level of violence. The EU adds that some atrocities committed in Syria may amount to crimes against humanity.
The EU statement went on to say that while it is up to the Syrian people to decide their future, it welcomed the recent creation of the opposition Syrian National Council "as a positive step forward."
In terms of the lack of a formal resolution at the U.N. Security Council, the EU expressed its deep disappointment, but said it would pursue its own efforts with regional partners to address the violence in Syria.
Damascus blames terrorist groups and outsiders for much of the violence in the country.
