Intensive negotiations ahead of Russia-led Syria talks

ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN >> Delegates from Russia, Turkey and Iran held hourslong talks in Kazakhstan Sunday on the eve of negotiations between Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad’s government, trying to forge common ground that would nudge forward a political settlement for the country’s civil war.

The talks between the two warring sides are the first in a year, and are meant as a first step to consolidate a cease-fire reached last month.

Whether Russia and Turkey will manage to bolster the cease-fire they brokered on Dec. 30 will be a key measure of success for the Astana meetings, Syrian opposition spokesman Yahya al-Aridi told reporters in the Kazakh capital Sunday.

The opposition delegation, which arrived in Astana earlier in the day, is made up of about a dozen rebel figures led by Mohammad Alloush, of the powerful Army of Islam rebel group. The Syrian government is sending its U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja’afari, and military delegates.

The U.N.’s Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is participating in the talks, which are to be followed by more political talks in February in Geneva. The new U.S. administration is not directly involved, because of the “immediate demands of the transition,” the State Department said Saturday, but Washington will be represented by the U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, George Krol.

The talks are sponsored by Russia, Iran and Turkey, and are the latest attempt to forge a settlement to end a war that has by most estimates killed more than 400,000 people since March 2011 and displaced more than half the country’s population.

At the top of the agenda for the talks, which will be held at the Rixos President Hotel, is an effort to consolidate last month’s ceasefire. The truce excludes extremist groups such as the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria. It has reduced overall violence, but fighting and violations continue on multiple fronts.

“If this can be achieved, this can help the political process,” said al-Aridi.

The scope of the aims reflects the constrained position of the opposition, which last year was pushing for a political transition in Syria that would exclude Assad.

Al-Aridi said there was no plan to discuss Assad’s position before addressing what he said were ongoing government violations of the cease-fire.

“I don’t think there’s a context for that now. Nobody is ready for this,” alAridi told reporters in Astana. “We need a commitment to that cease-fire.”

“If the other side doesn’t care about stopping the bloodshed in Syria, and cares most about staying in power at the expense of Syrian blood ... in that case, nothing will work,” he said.