Syrian peace talks: A game of musical chairs

(MENAFN- Jordan Times) The peace process for Syria is increasingly becoming like the moribund peace process for the Palestinian conflict, with no end in sight. Peace talks on Syria are now fluctuating between the Geneva platform on one hand and the Astana venue and belatedly to Sochi on the other. Sandwiched between the three venues is, of course, Vienna, where similar talks were held recently under the auspices of the United Nations but with similar negative results.

If this changing of venues, which is beginning to look like a game of musical chairs, is not an indication of lack of seriousness in all the purported negotiations on ending the seven-year-old Syrian civil war, one does not know what is! If all goes well with no last minute ditches, the next venue for negotiations on Syria is projected to take place in Sochi under the auspices of Russia.

Russia, of course, holds many cards on the fate of Syria after it had intervened rather heavily and forcefully on the side of the Syrian government more than two years ago. For all intents and purposes, Moscow holds the key for ending the Syrian conflict. The rounds of peace talks in Astana and Sochi many times over reflect this reality.

The wild card remains the US, which belatedly began to flex its muscles in Syria ostensibly to finish off the Daesh threat but in reality to claim a stake and a foothold in the country as well.

While the Geneva-based talks are held under the auspices of the United Nations and based on the UN Security Council Resolution 2254, it is hard to tell what the other talks are anchored on and whether they are supposed to be supplementary or complementary to the Geneva-based talks.

Yet, be that as it may, all rounds of talks on Syria, whether held in Geneva, Astana, Sochi or even Vienna have ended in deadlock. Russia, Turkey, Iran and the US, the key players of the crisis, are still at loggerheads over how to end the war in Syria in a manner and condition that would serve their own national interests and help promote their respective strategic goals in the area.

Till there is a concert of objectives between the key players, there is little hope that the Syrian civil war would end anytime soon.

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