Borodavkin: Fourth Round of Geneva Talks Saw Certain Progress
GENEVA— There were warnings ahead of the Syria talks in Geneva that a failure would cause the nationwide “ceasefire” to break down, but contrary to them the new round has seen moderate progress, the Russian envoy to the UN Office in Geneva, Alexey Borodavkin, said Saturday, according to Sputnik.
Asked about the results of UN-backed intra-Syrian talks, Borodavkin told reporters: “First, warnings of ill-wishers who predicted a failure of the Geneva round and the ensuing breakdown of the Syrian ceasefire – nothing of this came true. This round saw certain progress. The talks seem to be more structured.”
At the same time, Russia is disappointed with lack of progress in getting Syrian “opposition” and government forces more engaged in the fight against terrorism at the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, the Russian envoy to the UN Office in Geneva said Saturday.
“Bringing government troops and opposition armed groups together to fight the threat of terrorism is a very important issue. Unfortunately, there has been no progress to that end,” Alexey Borodavkin said.
He blamed absence of unity in the effort to combat terrorism on the Syrian “opposition” that had not separated itself from groups, considered as terrorist organizations by many countries, including Russia, namely, Daesh and al-Nusra Front.
“We expect this [separation] to happen soon. This is an essential condition for getting the government forces and opposition join their efforts in the fight against terrorism,” Borodavkin stressed.
The United States have not demonstrated active engagement during Geneva talks, since the US administration is still developing its position concerning foreign policy, including the Syrian issue, Alexey Borodavkin added.
“The US administration is going through a stage of developing, elaborating the main pillars of its position, including on the Syrian issue. That is why, we have not noticed great engagement on the US side during this round. We have to simply wait until the United States finish its preparations and engage in the process in a more active way,” Borodavkin told reporters.
Borodabkin added that Moscow hoped that future rounds of the talks would build on the positive atmosphere of this one.
“The way forward has been outlined. Everything depends now on the degree of constructiveness in all parties to the talks, [the High Negotiations Committee opposition group] first of all,” Borodavkin added.
Russia Backs Participation of Kurds and Other Moderate Opposition in Syria Talks
The Russian envoy to the UN also said that Moscow supports the participation of Astana platform, the Kurds and other representatives of Syrian “moderate opposition” in intra-Syrian talks.
He noted that the reunification of these groups should happen not through “Riyadh-based delegation absorbing” them, but by bridging the distance between the positions of all the opposition platforms.
“Riyadh, Moscow or Cairo opposition platforms put together do not show the full range of the Syrian opposition. We regret that the Kurds, the Astana platform and other moderate opposition groups were not invited to this round [of talks],” Borodavkin told reporters.
Earlier, Borodavkin said that Moscow pushes for inviting Syrian Kurds to participate in the intra-Syrian talks in the Swiss city of Geneva. Syrian Kurds are Syria’s citizens, they represent a numerous minority, great political and military force and they have the right to take part in shaping the state’s destiny, Borodavkin stressed.
The Kurds did not attend February 2016 round of Geneva talks since Turkey and Syrian “opposition” have refused to allow them to join the discussions.
The new round of Syria talks in Kazakhstan’s Astana will likely deal with efforts to end six years of fighting and finding ways of building trust between government and armed opposition forces, Borodavkin said.
The fourth round of UN-backed intra-Syrian talks between the government and opposition factions kicked off in Geneva last week and concluded on Friday.
H.M