- Syrian opposition says won't attend Astana talk
- Turkey seeks to build Syrian military cooperation with Russia
- Syrian army announces recapture of Palmyra from Islamic State
- U.S.-allied militia agrees to hand villages to Syrian govt
Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's most powerful ally, said the rebels' reasons for staying away were unconvincing and their decision came as a surprise. Describing the rebels as Turkish proxies, the Syrian government envoy said Ankara had broken "its commitments" to the Astana process.
The rebels said they would not attend the talks, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, because of what they called Russia's unwillingness to end air strikes on rebel-held areas and its failure to get the Syrian army and Iranian-backed militia to abide by a ceasefire.
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| Bashar al-Jaafari (L), Syrian chief negotiator and Ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of the Syria to UN New York, shakes hands with UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura, right, prior a round of negotiation, during the Intra Syria talks, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Salvatore Di Nolfi/Pool |
Russia has sought to revive diplomacy over Syria since its air force helped government forces defeat rebel groups in eastern Aleppo in December, Assad's biggest victory of the war.
The cooperation of Turkey, one of the main backers of rebel groups fighting in northern Syria, has been crucial to the Russian diplomatic effort, helping to broker a ceasefire in December after the rebels' Aleppo defeat.
Two previous rounds of Astana talks have sought to consolidate that ceasefire, reflecting an improvement in Russian-Turkish ties that had been strained to breaking point by the Syrian war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Russian Defence Ministry was in touch with Syrian rebel leaders who boycotted the talks, the Interfax news agency reported. He said Russia was dealing with the situation.
The Kremlin spokesman described the talks as hugely complex. "Sometimes the situation at these talks is really complicated because of substantial differences in approaches of various countries," Dmitry Peskov said during a conference call.
Alexander Lavrentiev, the head of the Russian delegation in Astana, told reporters the opposition's absence was "sad" but there was still "many things to discuss and make decisions about".
