Kerry in Moscow to Discuss Syria
U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is due to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Thursday, to discuss Syria and ISIS following the deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels.
Kerry is planning to discuss the danger ISIS poses to international security after the group claimed responsibility for the attack. He is also expected to review the fragile Syrian truce and the ongoing U.N.-brokered peace talks, and specifically to seek clarification on Russia’s position on a potential political transition for Syria and the future of President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. officials told the Associated Press.
Kerry arranged the meeting following Putin’s surprise announcement of Russia’s military pull-out from Syria. It comes after Russia on Monday accused the U.S. of “unacceptable” delays on cease-fire enforcement and warned that it would start responding to truce violations with unilateral force.
U.N. Envoy Says ‘No Time to Lose’ Following Brussels Attacks
The U.N. special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura expressed “horror and outrage” at the attacks on the Belgian capital on Tuesday that killed at least 34 people.
“The tragedy in Brussels … reminds us that … we have no time to lose,” de Mistura told reporters in Geneva. “We need to extinguish the fire of war in Syria,” he said, insisting that “to fight terrorism, the best formula is to find a solution for political transition in Syria.”
The U.N.-brokered peace talks entered a second week without any direct communication between the Syrian government representatives and the opposition delegation.
A spokeswoman for the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) stressed the need to end the five-year conflict, saying the ongoing peace talks were “more vital than ever,” reported Agence France-Presse. “The Geneva process is today fundamental to reestablishing the global political order and avoiding the chaos that fanatics are threatening us with here in Europe and there in the Middle East,” Bassma Kodmani said in a statement.
Despite de Mistura’s eagerness to make progress, and the opposition’s willingness to cooperate, the fate of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad remains “excluded” from the talks, according to the government’s lead negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari. A consultant for the Saudi-backed HNC delegation, however, said any talks that leave Assad in power are “absolutely unacceptable.”
Hezbollah Dismisses Speculations on Syria Withdrawal
Hezbollah said Europe is being burned by “fire” caused by “takfiri” groups (a slur used to describe ultra-fundamentalist Muslims who accuse other believers of apostasy) in Syria and the Middle East.
“The fire that Europe in particular and the world in general is being burned by is the same one that some regimes ignited in Syria and other states in the region,” Hezbollah said in a statement following the Belgium attacks, as reported by Reuters.
During a live interview on Monday, Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Lebanese Shiite group, and one of President Bashar al-Assad’s main allies, said his group would continue fighting in Syria until ISIS and the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front were defeated.
“All that has been said about our withdrawal from Syria is false,” said Nasrallah, responding to a question about speculation the group was preparing to withdraw, adding that the militia was capable of sending even more ground troops into Syria if necessary.
The interview came a week after Russia’s surprise announcement of its partial withdrawal from Syria. “Whether the Russians leave or stay – more than that, whether the Iranians leave or stay … our fate and the fate of our Syrian brothers is one and indivisible,” he told Lebanese channel al-Mayadeen. “If Syria falls into the hands of Daesh [ISIS] and Nusra, Syria is finished, Lebanon is finished.”
Recommended Reads
- The Nation: Is Russia’s Pullout a Path to Peace in Syria?
- The Wall Street Journal: From Syria to Brussels
- Voice of America: Iranians Fuel Property Frenzy in Syria
- VOX: The Brussels Attack Is Europe’s New Reality
- The Washington Post: U.S. Charges Three Suspected Syrian Electronic Army Hackers
- War on the Rocks: The Three Faces of Russian Spetsnaz in Syria
- The Jamestown Foundation: Rebranding Russia’s Military Operations in Syria
- The Atlantic Council: Putin Decision to Withdraw Forces From Syria Is a Betrayal of Iran
- The New York Times: Assad May Bet That Russia and West Need Him More Than He Needs Them
- Arab News: Balkanization of Syria Is a Catastrophic Idea
Top image: U.S. secretary of state John Kerry, left, speaks with Russian president Vladimir Putin during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Dec. 15, 2015. (Associated Press)