Russian summit on Syria raises controversy, doubt
The Syrian opposition suspects Russia’s upcoming congress is a ploy to bolster the regime and dilute the United Nations’ influence.
The seventh round of Syrian peace talks, held Oct. 30-31 in Astana, Kazakhstan, failed to produce meaningful agreements in practical terms. Not only that, but the participants’ final statements give the impression that Moscow is seeking to impose its own resolution of the Syrian conflict — not as a moderator, but as a party seeking the long-term survival of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and securing it new legitimacy in the eyes of the international community.
The Syrian opposition delegation, led by the Free Syrian Army’s Ahmad Berri and represented by such factions as Jaish al-Islam, Ahrar al-Sham, the Sultan Murad Brigade and others, insisted that Assad comply with the cease-fire, especially in Eastern Ghouta; free prisoners of war and withdraw pro-Iranian Shiite militias from Syrian territory.
In the runup to the Astana talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special representative for Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, expressed hope that this round of the negotiations would “make progress in freeing the captives and in humanitarian de-mining activities.”
Yet final documents on these very issues have never been adopted in Astana. Commenting on the results of the meeting, Lavrentyev said there will need to be additional talks between Damascus and the opposition to adopt the documents. In other words, the negotiators failed to agree on the main stated subjects. Yet as Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Jaberi Ansari said, the issue of the prisoner swap has been on the agenda since the fourth round of talks.
