SYRIA IN HALF

Abstract

(By Yekaterina Markhulia and Polina Khimshiashvili. RBC Daily, April 26, 2016, p. 2. Condensed text:). .. At a Feb. 25 [sic; April 25] press conference in Moscow, [Russian] Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Washington’s proposal to divide Syria into zones of authorized military action simplistic. According to the State Department’s plan, which US Secretary of State Kerry presented to New York Times reporters on April 23, Russia would terrorists in one part of Syria, and the US would them in the other; meanwhile, both countries would jointly monitor the ceasefire. ... John Kerry’s recent statement that we need to come to an agreement on where our respective troops are and what zones can and cannot be bombed***is a rather simplistic approach. Still, fighting terrorists is the main thing, RIA Novosti quotes Lavrov as saying. ... Kerry’s proposal followed the de facto failure of the latest round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva. On Thursday, April 21, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), a delegation formed in Riyadh and supported by the West, suspended its participation in the consultations and left the city. It reportedly did so because Damascus refused to adhere to the initially stated goals of the talks and because of violations of the ceasefire that has been in effect since Feb. 27 [see Current Digest, Vol. 68, No. 8, pp. 3 - 6].. . . ... fate of the [Syrian] president remains a stumbling block in the negotiations. HNC is demanding [Syrian President Bashar] Assad’s resignation. Damascus categorically rejects this scenario: Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told the Associated Press on April 13 that such a scenario could lead to a coup d’etat, and so the opposition will have to abandon its dream of a transitional government. Omar Osi, a member of the [Syrian] government’s delegation, accused the oppositionists of not having their own opinions, and [said that] in reality the negotiations will be conducted the British, French and Americans.. . . ... A Russian official familiar with the course of the Syrian negotiations told RBC that Moscow does not see substantial progress in the intra-Syrian talks: The irreconcilable opposition has failed to dissociate itself from terrorist groups, RBC’s interlocutor said. ... Moscow, too, sees no progress in negotiations with the US on enhancing coordination in Syria: parties continue to share information, but not intelligence; the US military is not agreeing to coordinate with the Russian military. ... We are not going to sit there and let [Putin] do his thing supporting the regime and hammer at the opposition and say ‘This is working.’ Obviously, we’re not stupid about it, Kerry said in an interview with the New York Times. [US] President Barack Obama announced on Monday in Hamburg that he will increase the number of special operations forces posted in Syria to ISIS from 50 to 300 people. ... US is clearly concerned by the actions of Russian troops in Syria. In mid-March, President Vladimir Putin ordered the withdrawal of the bulk of [Russia’s] military contingent [see Current Digest, Vol. 68, No. 11, pp. 3 - 6], but Washington does not believe that Moscow has left there for good. Wall Street Journal sources in the US administration claim that Russia is moving artillery units to areas in northern Syria where government troops are concentrated, and they assume that Moscow and Damascus are prepared to resume full-scale fighting based on the tense situation at the negotiations in Geneva. ... administration itself would prefer not to aggravate the Syrian issue: Back in October 2015, when the Russian operation in Syria had just begun, Obama said that he would not allow the situation to slowly turn into a proxy war with Moscow. But Washington has serious misgivings about the intentions of Moscow and its allies. Wall Street Journal sources at the Pentagon claim that the intensity of Russia’s air strikes against Assad’s opponents has increased in recent days, although they still number less than before the ceasefire was announced: about 10 strikes per day, instead of 100. ... It can’t be ruled out that by entering into confrontation, the Assad regime is forcing its ally Russia to take its side.. . . ... Following Lavrov’s lead, Russian parliamentarians from relevant committees rejected Kerry’s ideas about divvying up areas of responsibility. ... Leonid Kalashnikov, first deputy head of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, generally likened the division of areas of responsibility in Syria to the occupation and partition of postwar Germany, and this when the authorities in Damascus have not invited the US to fight on its territory. Such a division would inevitably lead to the disintegration of the country, believes former State Duma deputy Semyon Bagdasarov, director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East and Central Asia.