A central topic: the civil war in Syria. “And I said, ‘Well, you might as well go ahead at this point, ‘” Ford recalled.
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Lavrov on Tuesday also downplayed the significance of the talks with the SNC, saying it was part of several individual meetings with Syrian opposition groups.
Russia, by contrast, wanted Assad to win and remain in power, as their nation’s main Mediterranean ally. A 48-hour ceasefire was declared in many Syrian cities and was even extended.
“If some of our partners believe that we should necessarily agree in advance that at the end of an interim period the president will leave his post – this position is not acceptable for Russia”, Lavrov said. He rejected claims by Assad’s opponents that Assad had close links to jihadists during the U.S. occupation of Iraq and therefore bears some responsibility for their rise in Syria.
Lavrov made the remarks following talks in Moscow with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on August 17. The Geneva Communique of June 30, 2012 clearly states that political settlement and the resolution of the Syrian crisis in general should be based on an inclusive dialogue spanning the entire Syrian political spectrum, and all issues should be settled by common consent.
Obama views Assad as a brutal tyrant and has called for his exit from power. Whether thousands of people are beheaded by extremists in those territories does not bother the US government, which is still driven by its grudge against Assad and its desire to feel a sense of redemption for wasted billions of dollars on “rebel” groups by at least reducing Assad’s power a little.
“Russian interest in Syria is to keep the secular regime in Syria”. And the Lebanese can now elect a president following the Iranian nuclear deal.
A flurry of diplomatic activity preceded the talks in Moscow, including the first three-way meeting on Syria between the top Russian, Saudi, and U.S. diplomats. “If we do anything to foster that impression it’s going to do a lot of damage”. The question is, will they muster the moral courage and find a solution to spare what is left of Syria from a catastrophe the world has been watching for nearly five years with deafening silence?
“Recent developments might be opening a slight window for political talks”, Crocker added. So even if Assad’s declining fortunes were to lead to his departing the scene, the war for Syria’s succession, and the suffering of its inhabitants, would almost certainly not be at an end. It disrupts the conduit route to its Hezbollah Shia allies in Lebanon.
So far the U.S. has not publicly admitted to direct conversations about Syria with Iran. As for the news that a Syrian security official recently visited Jeddah, this should be seen as being part of routine communications that take place between adversaries.
The Russians are also worried about a new US-Iranian axis.
Lavrov’s meeting with his Saudi counterpart earlier this week highlighted continuing sharp differences about Assad’s fate.
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This coalition includes some of the strongest Islamist rebel forces in Syria. Efforts to build trusted proxy forces have collapsed – a $500 million program to train and equip vetted rebels has graduated just 60 fighters, many of them seized by Islamists within weeks of hitting the battlefield. Several of them were recently captured by the Nusra front.
