UN Special Envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi expressed hope for the January 22 Geneva II peace talks in comments today, saying that combatants on both sides of the Syrian Civil War agree that there is no “military solution” for them.
“Some time ago, both sides were absolutely certain that they are winning,” Brahimi noted. That’s clearly not the case anymore, but many of the rebel factions say that there is no dealing with the Assad government.
Turkey and Iran are calling for both sides to agree to a ceasefire going into the peace talks, but the various rebel factions all suggest that’s unlikely, with only the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) agreeing to the talks so far.
Syrian officials say that the talks are aimed at ending the fighting, and that they don’t intend the talks to usher in a transfer of power to some rebel faction. That’s likely to underscore rebel opposition to the talks.
Every time the so-called "rebels" got a reprieve in the form of a ceasefire they set about consolidating their gains and pushing forward. They're not to ever be trusted. The only reason they're even considering talking is that they're losing.