Renewed US-Russia rift threatens slim Syria peace hope

WASHINGTON: The latest US and Russian bid to find enough common ground on which to build some hope for Syria is in trouble, just days ahead of talks that could make or break the peace process. A United Nations mediator has called on Bashar Al-Assad’s regime and a beleaguered opposition coalition to send envoys to Geneva on November 28 to resolve the seven-year-old civil war. This comes less than a week after Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement agreeing that there is “no military solution” to the conflict.

US officials then welcomed the statement as a sign of Russia’s commitment to a UN-backed political process that Washington feels must lead to an end to Assad’s bloody rein. But if their show of optimism raised cynical eyebrows then, it seemed even less plausible by Friday, after the latest heated showdown over Syria at the United Nations. There, Russia moved to thwart international attempts to salvage a UN-led probe into Assad’s and extremist groups’ use of chemical weapons to slaughter Syrian civilians. Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, was clear about what the Russian veto of a US-backed resolution meant for the broader peace process.

“Russia proves they cannot be trusted or credible as we work towards a political solution in Syria,” she declared. The previous US administration under Barack Obama repeatedly tried and failed to engage Putin with a peace plan that would lead to a political transition away from Assad’s rule. Then secretary of state John Kerry’s frequent but fruitless forays to hotel conference rooms in Vienna and Geneva to spar with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were much mocked at home. —AFP