US making new push to end Syrian civil war, says opposition

THE US is taking a renewed interest in a political solution to the seven-year civil war in Syria, the head of the opposition said yesterday, as it called for increased pressure on Russia and the regime.

The administration held a meeting last week with the UK, France, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to discuss Syria, in which it said it would be withdrawing its support for the Russia and Iranbacked peace process and refocusing on the Geneva conference, expected to take place in late January, an adviser to the Syrian opposition told The Daily Telegraph.

The US is understood to want to avoid Russia taking the initiative over Geneva with parallel talks in the Black Sea city of Sochi which are also set to take place in the coming weeks.

The meeting was seen by western diplomats as the first concrete sign of a renewed commitment to Syria, after the US was accused of abandoning the opposition under the Obama administration and focusing only on the fight against Isil.

“We felt that there is something new. They want to take the leadership, the initiative,” Nasr al-hariri, the head of opposition umbrella group the Syrian Negotiations Commission, told a parliamentary briefing in London yesterday.

Trump administration officials, including HR Mcmaster, the national security adviser, and Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, have also held meetings with the opposition in recent weeks. Mr Tillerson is expected to make a speech focusing on the administration’s new approach to Syria in the coming days. The Syrian opposition is in Europe this week to appeal to leaders for their help in galvanising this momentum, and for the US and Europe to increase pressure on Russia and the regime to negotiate an end to the war.