blames western failure to rein in islamist factions by jason ditz, november 01, 2016 share this 




while there really hasn<u+2019>t been any indication that such talks were going to happen soon at any rate, russian defense minister sergey shogu made it official today that syrian peace talks are <u+201c> postponed for an indefinite period .<u+201d> 




shogu insisted there were no prospects for new peace talks right now because the west had failed to rein in islamist rebel factions in the country, adding that this continued in spite of russia pausing their air strikes against aleppo. 




the previous ceasefire in syria had been negotiated with an eye on separating the islamist factions like the nusra front from more moderate rebel groups. the us made a public statement calling for such a separation, but it never happened, and ultimately, russia started trying to convince turkey and saudi arabia to try. none have accomplished anything so far. 




in the meantime, the us and its allies began angrily condemning russia and syria for attacking the nusra front, complaining it proved russia doesn<u+2019>t want peace. this too is adding to doubts about getting new talks started, with everyone seemingly agreeing nusra can<u+2019>t participate in the peace process, but not able to get them split in meaningful ways from the rebel factions that might be welcomed. last 5 posts by jason ditz
russian dm: syria peace talks indefinitely postponed
jason ditz