France and Spain have ruled out a resolution for the 17-month-old Syrian crisis as long as the regime of President Bashar al-Assad remains in power. French President Francois Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy agreed as they met Thursday in Madrid that ending the crisis requires in all cases the removal of the Assad regime. Countries such as Russia and China must be convinced that that Assad’s departure would not mean chaos in Syria, Hollande said, adding that it would be the other way around. He called on the different Syrian opposition groups to form a representative transitional government after the overthrow of the regime.