With the US seemingly gearing up for an open-ended military involvement in Syria, US envoy James Jeffrey looks to be trying to undercut any peace efforts, demanding that the world “pull the plug” on the Russia-led Astana talks.
The Astana talks involve Russia, Turkey, and Iran, and Jeffrey says the US opposes the “rather strange initiative” and wants it scrapped in favor of a new UN effort, presumably one which the US would be given a priority position in.
The US never supported the Astana process in the first place, and has demanded that the end of the Syrian War involve unconditional regime change. Russia has said they want the end state to be settled with a free election, which would include the possibility of existing officials running for office. The US says that can never be allowed.
There is no sign a new UN effort is happening anyhow to replace Astana, but that may also be part of the idea. With the rebellion all but defeated, the US seems determined to keep the war going, and scrap anything that might result in negotiations.
“The Astana talks involve Russia, Turkey, and Iran, and Jeffrey says the US opposes the “rather strange initiative” and wants it scrapped in favor of a new UN effort, presumably one which the US would be given a priority position in.”
Good luck with that!!!
The US is clearing the deck to attack Iran. Any peace talks about Syria could only interfere.
Jeffries is a rabid neocon functioning as the messenger boy. Iran is the target as bolton and pompeo continue with the “Big Lie.”
In other words, the US doesn’t want this peace process to move forwards because we prefer [to dominate] our own peace process [which will happen a long time from now if ever]. And the US believes in democracy less than Russia does, and the US wants democracy for Syria exactly the same way China believes in democracy for Hong Kong: vote however you want but we choose the candidates. The US should either stop criticizing China on human rights, or start working to advance real democracy. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/23/world/asia/hong-kong-chief-executive-ce-election-carrie-lam-john-tsang.html
Unless U.S drops nukes on civilians, they don’t stand a chance against the Persians.
Any peace deal without the Kurds is damned. If the Russians can get to the Kurds and leash Turkey, the US will be sh*t out of options. The Kurds are the key to fixing this whole disaster.