One of the stagers....
Posted on 04/10/2017 2:12:08 AM PDT by blueplum
...In recent months, the Russians have had some success in persuading a wide range of parties with interests in the Syrian conflict to join talks in the Kazakhstan capital, Astana. The Americans were not involved. Their earlier, bilateral attempts with Russia to negotiate a ceasefire had failed and, with Barack Obama appearing to give up on Syria diplomacy, perhaps anticipated Trump’s stated view that the US had no vital interest to defend in Syria. In the event, the US absence may actually have helped things along. It meant that Turkey and Iran had to concentrate on the task in hand – a settlement in Syria – rather than pursuing old enmities or appealing to old allegiances. The fall of eastern Aleppo to Assad’s forces in December also instilled a new sense of realism in some of the disparate rebel forces. There was a tacit acceptance that Assad had to be part of at least an interim arrangement if the war is to end without Syria fragmenting. All those calculations, which gave Russia hope of presiding over an eventual deal, and looking more like a peacemaker than a warmonger, are now up in the air. For all the assurances....
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Maybe we can get the folks Putin was meeting with to work with other interested parties and get this Syria thing done and move on ?
There was a meeting over mid east affairs. The Obama administration was conspicuously left off the list.
A good first start would be to stop blowing up Syrian Government assets whenever the White Helmets stage some posed-corpse theatre.
Yes, it would. It will also be interesting how the Russians treat Tillerson in his visit to Moscow tomorrow.
Trump has said he prefers a negotiated settlement.
I think Russia is going to make Assad an offer he can’t refuse. The Alowites will retain power but he will be at a resort near the Black Sea
New game that the foul Islamistist is out of the WH ...
One of the stagers....
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