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UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura gives a press conference closing a round of Intra Syria peace talks at the European headquarters of the United Nations offices in Geneva, on December 14, AFP PHOTO / Fabrice COFFRINI
Reuters/Haaretz: As Russia Redraws the Map in Syria, Putin and Iran Are Left With One Major Disagreement
Russian diplomacy in Syria is not seen as likely to yield a peace deal, while Putin and Iranian leaders differ on how best to deal with Syria's armed Kurds
With the map of Syria's conflict decisively redrawn in President Bashar al-Assad's favor, his Russian allies, Iran included, want to convert military gains into a settlement that stabilises the shattered nation and secures their interests in the region - a prospect the Israeli government strongly objects to.
A year after the opposition's defeat in Aleppo, government forces backed by Russia and Iran have recovered large swathes of territory as Islamic State's "caliphate" collapses.
As UN-backed talks in Geneva fail to make any progress, Russia is preparing to launch its own political process in 2018. President Vladimir Putin declared mission accomplished for the military on a visit to Russia's Syrian air base this week, and said conditions were ripe for a political solution.
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WNU Editor: Russia may have played a major role in the military conflict in Syria, but its influence on the political process does have limits .... Russia’s military victory masks diplomatic impotence in Syria (Julien Barnes-Dace, European Council On Foreign Affairs)
