Talks on Syria’s civil war get off to a rocky start

Astana, Kazakhstan — Talks between the Syrian government and representatives of rebel factions got off to a rocky start Monday after their first face-to-face meeting in Kazakhstan, which marked a major shift in the war’s dynamics and confirmed Russia’s role as regional heavyweight.

The gathering in Astana, the Kazakh capital, is the latest in a long line of diplomatic initiatives aimed at ending the nearly 6-year-old civil war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced half of Syria’s population.

The talks are focused on shoring up a shaky ceasefire declared Dec. 30, not on reaching a larger political settlement. Syria’s bitter divide was on vivid display as the delegates emerged from a closed, hourlong session marked by cold glances and sharp exchanges.

Syria’s U.N. envoy Bashar Ja’afari said the opposition delegation represented “terrorist armed groups,” and denounced the opening address delivered by the chief rebel negotiator, calling it “provocative” and “insolent.”

The head of the rebel delegation, Mohammad Alloush, had described Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government as a “terrorist” entity. He called for armed groups fighting alongside it, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, to be placed on a global list of terrorist organizations, according to a video leaked by opposition delegates.

“The presence of foreign militias invited by the regime, most notably the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iraqi Hezbollah … contributes to the continuation of bloodshed and obstructs any opportunity for a ceasefire,” Alloush said.

Such outfits were no different, he added, than the Islamic State group, which is excluded from the ceasefire.

After an opening ceremony, both sides split and did not meet face-to-face again. The meeting later concluded until Tuesday.

Still, it was a significant departure from past meetings, given the fact that Syria’s government delegation sat opposite representatives of more than a dozen armed factions it describes as terrorists.

As the Astana talks continued, Moscow and Washington engaged in a public dispute Monday over whether the U.S.-led coalition was now working with the Russian military in Syria.

A Russian Defense Ministry statement said that its warplanes had flown a joint mission with coalition aircraft, attacking Islamic State targets near the city of al-Bab. The statement said Russian forces in Syria had received coordinates of Islamic State targets near al-Bab on Sunday “from the U.S. side via hotline with the international coalition headquarters.”

That claim was almost immediately denied by the U.S. military.

U.S. Air Force Col. John Dorrian, a coalition spokesman, labeled the Russian claim as propaganda.