Russian Minister of Overseas Affairs Sergey Lavrov has stated he and his Iranian and Turkish counterparts are calling for “an finish to hostile actions” in Syria, the place opposition fighters have made a rapid advance in a significant problem to President Bashar al-Assad.
Chatting with Al Jazeera on the Doha Discussion board within the Qatari capital on Saturday, Lavrov stated Russia, Iran and Turkiye expressed help for “dialogue between the federal government and legit opposition” in Syria.
The three international locations have been concerned since 2017 within the so-called Astana Format talks in search of a political settlement in Syria, and their high diplomats – Lavrov, Iran’s Abbas Araghchi and Turkiye’s Hakan Fidan – met in a trilateral format on the sidelines of the Doha Discussion board.
“We referred to as for [an] rapid finish to hostile actions. We acknowledged, all of us, that we wish the [United Nations] Decision 2254 to be absolutely carried out, and for this function, referred to as for the dialogue between the federal government and legit opposition,” Lavrov stated.
Syria-led course of
Decision 2254 (PDF) outlines a dedication to the “sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity” of Syria and says the one answer to the years-long battle shall be via “an inclusive and Syrian-led political course of”.
Requested whether or not Moscow – a key backer of al-Assad and the Syrian military – believes the Syrian president can cling onto energy, Lavrov stated he was “not within the enterprise of guessing”.
“We agreed right now with Iran and Turkiye to subject a powerful name, which I described, and we shall be performing some particular steps to ensure that this name is heeded,” he stated.
Minister of Overseas Affairs @HakanFidan attended the Astana-format assembly on the twenty second Doha Discussion board, along with his Iranian and Russian counterparts. 🇹🇷🇮🇷🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/1lA7HIg4XL
— Turkish MFA (@MFATurkiye) December 7, 2024
Lavrov’s feedback got here as fighters led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) armed group have made a lightning advance in Syria over days, taking management of key cities, together with Aleppo and Hama.
Late on Friday, the rebels stated they’d reached the edge of Homs, a strategic metropolis linking the capital Damascus to coastal components of the nation the place al-Assad enjoys help from the Alawite group.
In a submit on Telegram on Saturday afternoon, an opposition commander stated the HTS-led group’s forces had begun “operations” inside Homs.
Opposition fighters have additionally made gains in Deraa and Sweida, in southwestern Syria close to the border with Jordan, and brought management of some cities within the Damascus countryside.
‘A lot weaker’
Reporting from Kilis, close to Turkiye’s border with Syria, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar stated the Syrian authorities has misplaced management of a majority of the nation’s territory.
“We’re seeing a Syrian authorities that’s a lot weaker than in 2016, when it was backed strongly by Russia, by Iran, by [Lebanese group] Hezbollah on the bottom,” he stated.
“Russians are extraordinarily busy in Ukraine. They’ve withdrawn a majority of their navy gear and personnel from the Khmeimim airbase [in Syria] to Ukraine,” Serdar defined, whereas Iran and Hezbollah have additionally been embroiled in preventing towards Israel.
“All of those components have created such a vacuum.”
At Saturday’s Doha Discussion board, Lavrov stated Russia was “completely satisfied of the inadmissibility to make use of terrorists like HTS to attain geopolitical functions”.
“We’re attempting to do all the pieces to not enable terrorists to prevail; even when they are saying they’re not terrorists,” he stated.
Downplaying fears
Samuel Ramani, an affiliate fellow on the Royal United Providers Institute, stated the Russian overseas minister “was attempting to challenge a picture of energy and being in management”.
“He was attempting to downplay fears that al-Assad’s regime in Syria is on the approaching brink of collapse, as a substitute speaking about how he’s doing all he can to advertise the sovereignty of Syria and to attempt to stabilise the state of affairs,” he informed Al Jazeera.
Ramani stated the opposition forces’ speedy advance seems to have caught Moscow off-guard.
“They’ve been watching they usually have been spectators identical to us to what’s unfolding in Syria, they usually don’t actually appear to have a really clear sport plan to maintain al-Assad in energy.”
