Low expectations as Syria talks resume once again

UN-brokered Syrian peace talks resume in Geneva on Thursday, but hopes of a breakthrough are dim, clouded by persistent violence and deadlock over the country's political future.


The latest talks are the first UN-mediated negotiations on Syria in nearly a year and come amid major military and geopolitical changes on the ground and in diplomatic circles. Nevertheless after more than six years of an internecine civil war, the old divides persist and are likely to resurface.

On the eve of the talks, UN mediator Staffan de Mistura admitted there was limited ground for progress on making peace.

"Am I expecting a breakthrough? No, I am not expecting a breakthrough," said de Mistura. “There are spoilers, we know it, we’ve seen it all the time during the last talks…But we will try to control it."

Reporting from Geneva Thursday, FRANCE 24’s John Zarocostas said the veteran diplomat “had quite a lot of experience” with spoilers in previous rounds of the Geneva negotiations.

But this time, Zarocostas noted: “It’s a radically different situation…you have new players and new coalitions. You have a Russian-Turkey-Iran ceasefire whereas last year, you had a US and Russia-sponsored ceasefire before it all unraveled. The Russians and the Turks have been holding the ceasefire with the various sides they back on the ground. What is also different is, and we don’t know yet, how the new Trump administration will come into these talks.”
 [france24.com]
23/2/17