Syrian talks yield no results
Syria peace talks organized by Secretary of State John Kerry in Lausanne, Switzerland, ended Saturday evening with no major announcements.
The talks, held by Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt, were intended to revisit a failed ceasefire in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, Reuters reported.
{mosads}Russian and Syrian forces and Iran-backed militias have continued to bombard the rebel-held eastern portion of the city, despite international calls for a humanitarian reprieve to protect the nearly 275,000 civilians caught in the crossfire.
Rebel forces about 8,000 strong are resisting the push to recapture the city by the Syrian government. A military source told Reuters that the operation was going as planned, despite the resistance.
A former Western diplomat said he did not understand why Kerry had convened the meeting, given the Russians’ continued assault on the city.
“I don’t understand (why) the Americans are asking the Russians to talk again. They have made zero concessions. Do the Americans believe Moscow was shaken by the break-off last week and will change behavior now?” the diplomat told Reuters.
U.S. diplomats had earlier recognized the difficulty of achieving quick results.
“I’m not expecting we will have some major announcement at the end of this. This is going to be, as it has been now for several years, a very difficult process,” said an unnamed U.S. representative.
Lavrov said after the talks that several “interesting ideas” had been discussed.
But another Western diplomat in Lausanne criticized the open format of the talks, saying that only specific results would render them credible.
“If it is to reach an agreement on Aleppo, countries have to make commitments: Russia to stop bombing, Iran to withdraw its militia on the ground supporting Damascus,” said the diplomat.
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