Russia invites US to join peace talks
Russian foreign minister voices hope for more effective solutions to the war and terrorism from working with Donald Trump
MOSCOW // Talks in Astana next week to bring about peace in Syria are aimed at consolidating the frail truce in the war- torn country and should include the incoming US administration, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said yesterday.
He said the talks in the Kazakh capital would also be an opportunity to engage rebel field commanders in “the political process” to end the bloodshed. “Those who wish to join must have the possibility to do so,” Mr Lavrov said.
The meeting in Astana is the latest attempt to end the conflict since it began in March 2011. The meeting is organised by Russia and Iran, allies of the Syrian regime, and Turkey, which backs the rebels.
Mr Lavrov said yesterday that it was “right to invite representatives of the UN and the new US administration” but it was not known whether the administration of incoming president Donald Trump had confirmed its attendance.
If the United States takes part in the talks, it would be the first formal contact between the Trump administration and Moscow.
According to Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news service, Mr Trump’s team would study an invitation to join the Syria talks after his inauguration on Friday.
Mr Lavrov said he hoped Russian-American cooperation on Syria “and other problems con- nected to the fight against terrorism” would be “more effective” under Mr Trump than during Barack Obama’s presidency. “Russia welcomes Trump’s stated priority of fighting terrorism and regards him as someone who won’t apply double standards [on the issue],” Mr Lavrov said.
A source in the Russian foreign ministry said the talks in Astana would not involve the foreign ministers of participating countries and could last a few days. Syrian rebel groups, including the powerful Jaish Al Islam (Army of Islam), said they would attend. The High Negotiations Committee (HNC), the main Syrian opposition umbrella group, has also expressed its support for the talks.
They are taking place a month after the Syrian regime took full control of the country’s second city of Aleppo from rebels in its biggest victory in more than five years of fighting.
If the Astana meetings are successful, they could bode well for a new round of United Nations-hosted political negotiations on the conflict set for next month in Geneva.
Mr Lavrov has previously dismissed the UN talks as “fruitless sitting around”. But Vitaly Naumkin, a Russian adviser to Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy to Syria, said the UN’s efforts should not be discounted. “Some people say that we need to bury the Geneva process, that the UN cannot do any more. I don’t think that interpretation is correct,” he said. “I am sure that the potential of the Geneva process is far from finished.”
Russia and Turkey last month brokered a ceasefire in Syria but without the involvement of the US, which had been a negotiator in previous attempts.
The truce took effect on December 30 and has brought calm to much of Syria although fighting continues in some regions.
The ceasefire excludes ISIL and its rival, the Fateh Al Sham Front, which changed its name from Al Nusra Front after breaking ties with Al Qaeda last year.
‘ Russia welcomes Trump’s stated priority of fighting terrorism and regards him as someone who won’t apply double standards Sergey Lavrov Russian foreign minister