Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State John Kerry have agreed to organize a new round of Syrian peace talks this weekend in Switzerland, the first high-level diplomacy on Syria since the Obama Administration recently announced it was cutting all ties with Russia over the matter.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry was the first to announce the new talks, and both sides have confirmed that “key regional partners” will also be invited, keeping this a multilateral discussion, instead of the bilateral US-Russia talks that dominated in recent months.
According to the State Department, the main focus of the talks will be to negotiate a new ceasefire in Aleppo, though spokesman John Kirby also insisted that the talks would aim toward creating the conditions for a new round of political talks on Syria’s future.
The last Syrian ceasefire collapsed last month after seven days, with the main incident during the pause a US airstrike which attacked a Syrian Army base. Two days later, Syria withdrew from the talks and attacked eastern Aleppo, help by al-Qaeda-linked rebels. Russia, which had previously negotiated joint US strikes against the Nusra Front in Aleppo, instead joined Syria in the strikes, since the US was unwilling to cooperate.
Since then, US officials have angrily condemned the strikes against Nusra as war crimes, and demanded international action against Russia for having done so. The talks appear to mark at least the temporary end to US threats against Russia.
Is it possible that our (US) Government might consider it preferable to talk rather than blundering into WWIII? I doubt it, but stay tuned.
Not much to talk about.
USA go home…
Am I missing anything?
But this is the key sticking point. US is seeking a piece of ground in Syria where it can legitimately stay for ever. They thought it would be Kurdish autonomy, but Turkey put a stop to that. Then, the idea to chop up Syria with various ethnicity religions… Not likely, nobody in region is supporting the idea of breaking up Syria. Nobody is so far in the contention. In spite of having a soft spot for Aleppo, US cannot own Al-Nusra. And after all this, it is clear that US is not welcome anywhere. Case in point, Free Syrian Army that joined Turkey — and chased US special ops out of the town with threats and demanding US leaves Syria. That is as bad as it gets.
So, what will remain for US is to save face. This is a multilateral meeting, so, broader picture is the point. Cleaning up Aleppo? UN should have a role in that, but not independently because it will suck up the NATO keystone cops. What can be discussed is the timing for US to finally get to the task and remove ISIS from North-West, but Turkey must have a role in it. No vacuum for international factor. In the discussion of the future — US will have to give concessions, as Russia is strengthening its position in Syria, and Chinese, Indian, Kazakhstan peacemakers and humanitarians are on the ground. Chinese training crews for military and its weaponry. Thus, not something US can dislodge.
But they will start with Assad must go, and the process will probably be now conditioned to removing all terror threat from the country, and identifying on the ground all interested parties — to define the “opposition”. Then they will have to discuss the transition to the political process, to which they will have to agree. With Assad being in the winning position as of now, US may have to define its “transition” in a way that is flexible to avoid getting into another “red line” stupidity that prevented it from having flexibility to solve problems.
It will be interesting to see what will happen. Russia does not have to agree to anything that is outrageous, but will agree to anything that sounds reasonable, provided that there are no hard dates or hard conditionality that can be easily obstructed. US does not have much flexibility as far as I can see. It has a complex situation in Iraq as well. Turkey is not going away from the region, angling obviously to prevent US to stay — protecting good Sunnis against bad Shia. Problem that all the countries there have is any US presence in the area, as it inevitably brings about instability and terrorism.
Sure wonderful to get Bianca’s take on this mess.. With our bought and owned MSM… We need more unbiased observers like Bianca… ferreting out rich nuggets of truth in the sea of lies.
Oct 12, 2016 – Russia test-fires ‘3’ intercontinental ballistic missiles
Russia’s military has test-fired three intercontinental ballistic missiles amid increasing tensions with the US on a range of issues, particularly the Syrian crisis.
http://presstv.com//Detail/2016/10/12/488780/Russia-Sergey-Shoigu
So? The United States have budgeted $1 trillion to upgrade their nuclear war heads to make them more usable and about the same to upgrade their missiles, to improve their chances of winning a first strike.
This is merely something I was reading and sharing on this topic.
Maybe just a slush fund to buy future elections, generals and judges to keep Obama & Hillary out of jail…???????
The only thing left to see is China shooting down some more satillites
“John Kirby also insisted that the talks would aim toward creating the conditions for a new round of political talks on Syria’s future.”
When – if ever – will the US realize it has NO SAY in “Syria’s future?”
I think that Turkey is going to make it easier for US to show up at the meeting. It will probably tow a line of “transition” from Assad, but as much as this will save US face, I cannot see Turkey allowing any long term presence in Syria. And I cannot see Turkey arguing for an inflexible approach to elections and the future of Syria. With Russian base now being declared permanent, and Chinese already on ground with their weapons and trainers, and India angling for a role, I cannot see US demanding some red lines. There will be verbal acrobatics, but the reality on ground is clear. It is also interesting that a new set of players is being invited. Kazakhstan for one. Being a Sunni country, and a strong ally of Russia and Turkey — this sounds to me as having some permanence. It is also interesting that another Shia country is being invited in the mix — Azerbaijan. Now, US cannot beat the country up — as it is important player in its energy plans. So, Iran will have its representative on the ground in Syria. Also, it is interesting that two Christian Orthodox countries are here as well — Armenia and Serbia. Both are eastern brand of Christianity and close to the Christians in the region. Also, there are a great number of Armenians living in the country. Turkey has a strong interest to get Armenian-Azeri issue solved, as well as its own historic baggage of Armenian genocide. It is quite clear that all three countries have under the auspices of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, managed to advance their dialogue. All these choices of nations that came to contribute to relief work is not an accident at all. China will probably have a large contingent, and I am really interested in India’s commitment. All of this is quite new — that is, newly became obvious, but could not have come about without prior planning.
You’re a great observer, Bianca
. You catch so much of what I miss. Keep up your dilliigent analysis…