Russia’s military intervention in Syria in September helped to turn the tide of war in Assad’s favor after months of gains in western Syria by rebel fighters, who were aided by foreign military supplies including U.S.-made anti-tank missiles.
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The main Syrian opposition umbrella group is pushing for an interim government in which President Bashar al-Assad and the current regime have no role. The warring sides have accused each other of multiple violations and they arrived in Geneva with what look like irreconcilable agendas. He did not elaborate.
“The Syrian people have submitted half a million martyrs not to keep Assad in power for a longer period but in order to terminate his presence and to put an end to the suffering of the Syrian people and also to put an end to the terrorism that targeted the region”, he said.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington was encouraged by Putin’s announcement but that it was too early to say what it means, whether he will carry it out and what may have motivated it.
Al Meslet also says Syrian refugees would eventually return home, once the government stops bombing and killing civilians.
Mr Jaafari refused to comment on the plan but warned: “Betting on creating any kind of divisions among the Syrians will be a total failure”.
Jaafari told reporters that a federal system would prove pointless.
The UN envoy has said Russia’s surprise decision to withdraw most of its forces from Syria, could have a “positive” impact on efforts to end the five-year conflict.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said two more groups of Russian warplanes took off from Russian Hemeimeem air base in Syria on Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for the resumption of Syria peace talks Monday in Geneva following a meeting with France’s new foreign minister and other senior European diplomats.
Syria’s United Nations ambassador Bashar Ja’afari was meeting with Staffan de Mistura on the third day of revolving-door diplomacy.
The second round of talks will have the Syrian government and the opposition engage engage for the first time in tangible discourse.
Wednesdays’ meetings are expected to move onto more substantive matters, after procedural steps and an outlining of goals from the two sides were covered in the two previous days.
The opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) Sunday pledged to stick with the negotiations, but reiterated that any transitional body must be imbued with all executive powers.
The commander of the Russian Air Force says the withdrawal of the bulk of the Russian forces from Syria should be complete in two to three days. The idea was promptly dismissed by both the Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and the rebels.
On the ground, a cease-fire has been in effect since late February.
A US-Russia-brokered ceasefire came into force in Syria on February 27, although it does not apply to terrorist groups operating in the country, such as Daesh, which is banned in a range of states including Russia and the United States.
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Russian Federation didn’t indicate when the next group of planes will leave or how many will be pulled out.
