US, Russia Fail to Reach Deal on Syria Peace Talks

Five Hours of Geneva Talks End Without a Deal

The Geneva conference on the Syrian Civil War was supposed to take place in June, but the only talks that ever happened in Geneva came today, when the US and Russia spent five solid hours trying to reach a deal on the talks.

And failing. The five hours of talks between US and Russian officials centered on who would be allowed to attend the peace talks, which are a bit short on attendees anyhow since the US-backed rebels have repeatedly ruled out showing up.

But Iran might. Or at least they’re open to attending, though the US is holding up the talks saying any appearance by Iran is unacceptable. Russia is pushing to either allow Iran or to exclude third party nations backing the rebels.

June is already clearly out for talks, and while UN officials had expressed hope that they might be able to make a deal by July, there’s a good chance that the US and Russia still won’t be able to reach a deal then either.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.