The obstacles to ending the five-year civil war in Syria remain daunting despite the United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously approving a resolution endorsing an international road map for a Syria peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed more than a quarter million lives. The resolution came after Moscow and Washington clinched a deal on a text. The two powers have had very different views on what should happen in Syria, where Islamic State militants control considerable territory that Western governments suspect has been a launch pad for attacks on Western nations and Russia. But of late there has been a degree of harmonization between US and Russian viewpoints. The resolution provides a U.N. backing to a plan negotiated previously in Vienna that called for a ceasefire, talks between the Syrian government and opposition, and a roughly two-year timeline to create a unity government and hold elections. Talks between Syria's government and opposition should begin in early January, the resolution said, though US secretary of state John Kerry said mid-to-late January was more likely. It also endorsed the continued battle to defeat Islamic State militants who have seized large swaths of land in both Syria and neighbouring Iraq.