Tensions between Moscow and Washington hamper fragile UN peace diplomacy in Syria
Damascus (AsiaNews) – The UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is to visit Damascus on Thursday to discuss peace "ideas" with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
A 60-page document summarising "ideas" the envoy had collected from the regime, opposition and civil society will be at the centre of discussions to end the ongoing civil war, which has already killed 240,000 people since it started in March 2011.
The envoy proposed a fresh approach by inviting Syrians to take part in four "thematic" working groups tasked with addressing four main areas: security, political issues including elections, the military aspect including the fight against "terrorism" and a possible ceasefire, and the country's reconstruction.
However, as fresh peace efforts are undertaken to end the war in Syria, relations between Washington and Moscow are getting worse over Russia’s military presence in that country.
The US government is worried by the Kremlin’s decision to send troops and materiel to the Assad regime. By contrast, Moscow insists that President Bashar al-Assad is essential to fight the Islamic State group and fundamentalist groups (like the al Nusra Front) operating in Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that without Russia's support to Syria, the flow of refugees to Europe would be even greater, and defended his country’s alliance with Assad, which goes back decades.
Russia hopes to build a new coalition against DAESH (the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group), together with Iran and the Syrian government, because results so far have been "very modest." As Russia’s ally, Iran allows Russian planes to fly over its territory on their way to Syria.
Kerry has expressed concern over Moscow's growing military support for the Syrian regime, asking clarification from his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. The two leaders spoke on the phone three times in the past ten days in an attempt to ease tensions.
For Kerry, Moscow's continued support for Assad is "undermining our shared goal of fighting extremism". Instead, he called again for a political transition that would see Assad go because the latter is not a credible actor in the fight against the Islamic State group.
Others blame the US government for the failure to find a solution of the Syrian crisis. Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari said that Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, met with him privately in 2012 and suggested finding "an elegant way for Assad to step aside". Ahtisaari said he believed the US ignored the proposal as they thought Assad was about to fall anyway.
For some, the Syrian conflict is the result of Washington’s interventionism against “hostile” regimes or governments, like Libya, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan and Iran. According to some experts, the conflict can only end when US President Barack Obama gives up his goal of removing Assad, avoiding other US mistakes like Tripoli and Baghdad.
For his part, buoyed by Russian support, Assad blames Europe for the refugee crisis, accusing those who mourn the dead at sea of forgetting the “death of thousands of children, elderly people, women and men killed by terrorists in Syria”. In fact, the Syrian leader blames Europe “because it supports terrorism and [. . .] provides protection for terrorists, calling them moderates”.
Re-elected in 2014 with 88.7 per cent of the vote, albeit with the vote held only in government-held areas, Assad has seen his army roughly halved from its pre-war size of 300,000 by deaths, defections and increased draft dodging.
Yet, thanks to the support of Tehran and Moscow, he does not intend to relinquish power even in the face of international pressure, saying the Syrian people must decide.
Now attention is set to move to the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month. World leaders are expected, including Pope Francis who is scheduled to deliver an official address.
Russia, which chairs the Security Council this month, has set the agenda for its upcoming meeting on 30 September: fighting terrorism and ending the crises in the Middle East and North Africa.
On the sidelines of all the official activities, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he would convene the foreign ministers of the five permanent Security Council members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – for a meeting on Syria later this month.
Criticising Moscow for its military support to Damascus, he urged the “members of the Security Council to show their solidarity at this time". In his view, "There is no military solution" in Syria.
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10/09/2016 15:12
