Russia scrambles for lost unity with Syrian partners

Russia’s foreign minister yesterday accused the US of trying to divide Syria as he met ministers from Iran and Turkey to push forward a peace process.

Sergey Lavrov said recent US-led missile strikes on Syria had “seriously aggravated the situation”, and that statements about supporting the territorial integrity of Syria “are only words that, apparently, cover plans for reformatting the Middle East and plans for dividing Syria into parts”.

Mr Lavrov was meeting in Moscow with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for the first time since the US and its allies launched missile strikes in Syria in response to a chemical attack allegedly carried out by the Syrian government.

The incident created a rift between Russia and Iran, which support Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and condemned the strikes, and Turkey – which supports rebel groups said the action was an appropriate response to a “massacre”.

Russia claimed the chemical attack was staged to discredit Mr Al Assad.

However, the Russian, Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers yesterday talked up their successes in brokering a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

The three nations launched their peace attempt in the Kazakhstan capital Astana last year, which they are pursuing independently of a US and UNbacked Geneva initiative.

Mr Lavrov said the peace talks in Astana were “firmly standing on their feet” and praised the “unique” alliance between Moscow, Tehran and Ankara.

Critics of the Astana talks are “trying to show that they today decide all the affairs in our world, but fortunately their time has passed”, he said.

The conflict in Syria has killed more than 350,000 people since it began in 2011. Russia, Iran and Turkey are the guarantor states in the socalled Astana process aimed at ending the violence.

The three agreed to intensify efforts to provide humanitarian aid in Syria.

“We will ensure that this aid is provided in the most effective way.

“We will be co-operating with the government, the opposition and, of course, with our counterparts at the United Nations, the International Red Cross, the Syrian Red Crescent and other international organisations,” Mr Lavrov said.

International aid groups have repeatedly accused the Syrian government of preventing the delivery of aid to besieged rebel-held areas.

Mr Lavrov implicitly criticised Damascus after it blocked UN humanitarian aid to the Syrian town of Douma, saying Moscow was calling for the government to be more “flexible”.

Douma was the last town fall to a government and Russian offensive in the formerly rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus.

Rebels left the town a few days after the chemical attack there on April 7, in which dozens of people were reported to have been killed. The US, France and Britain launched a missile

Reports from Syria say government forces are still fighting ISIS, with clashes taking place to the south of Damascus