Syria’s government and opposition yesterday met for a seventh round of UN-sponsored peace talks with little expectation of a breakthrough to end the conflict that is now in its seventh year.
The talks in Geneva, Switzerland, opened after a ceasefire took effect on Sunday in three provinces in southern Syria, with a monitor reporting that the region was mostly quiet despite scattered violations.
The ceasefire was brokered by the US, Russia and Jordan, the latest agreement reached outside the Geneva framework.
In principle, the negotiations are to focus on four so-called “baskets”: a new constitution, governance, elections and combating “terrorism.”
The last talks ended in May with little progress toward ending a war that has killed more than 320,000 people.
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura had said after that round that “important gaps remain ... on major issues,” and that time constraints had stymied progress.
Syria’s opposition insists that Syrian Presisdent Bashar al-Assad must step down as part of any political solution to the war, but the government says al-Assad’s fate is not up for discussion.
Still, both sides are expected to participate once again, with Yehya al-Aridi, a spokesman for the opposition High Negotiations Committee, saying he had “modest expectations.”
Since January, the Geneva talks have been increasingly overshadowed by the separate process organized by Russia, Iran and Turkey in the Kazakh capital Astana.
The three nations in May agreed to set up four “de-escalation zones” in Syria, although they have so far failed to agree on details necessary to implement the plan.
The ceasefire in southern Syria covers three provinces included in one of the zones.
Syria’s opposition fears the Astana talks are a way for regime allies to control the negotiation process.
By attending the Geneva talks, al-Aridi said, the opposition hoped to preserve the track.
“The goal is to maintain some momentum for a political solution in light of Russia’s attempts to divert attention to Astana, which it wants to design and shape as it wishes,” he said.
Separately yesterday, Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Bahram Qasemi said the partial ceasefire should be expanded to all of Syria if it is to be successful.
“The agreement can be fruitful if it is expanded to all of Syria and includes all the area that we discussed in Astana talks for de-escalating the tension,” Qasemi was quoted by the Tasnim news agency as saying.
Russia and Iran are the main international backers of al-Assad, while Washington supports some of the rebel groups fighting to topple him.
“Iran is seeking Syria’s sovereignty and security, so a ceasefire cannot be limited to a certain location,” Qasemi said. “No agreement would be successful without taking the realities on the ground into account.”
Previous similar ceasefires have failed to hold for long and it was not clear how much the actual combatants are committed to this latest effort.
Qasemi said Iran has been fully informed by the Russians on the ceasefire agreement, but added that they see some “ambiguities in the deal mainly related to the American recent measures in Syria.”
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