Media reports say talks between key Syria war players in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, ended yesterday with Russia, Turkey and Iran agreeing on a mechanism to support a delicate ceasefire.
The meeting, organized by Russia and Turkey and attended by the government and the armed opposition, was aimed at strengthening a nationwide ceasefire that has largely held despite pockets of violence, and at paving the way towards United Nations-led political negotiations in Geneva on February 8.
It was not immediately clear whether the opposition or the government backed the communiqué.
The three nations also said they supported the willingness of the armed opposition groups to participate in the Geneva talks and that they were committed to "minimizing violence, building confidence, ensuring humanitarian access, protection and free movement of civilians," according to a final statement read by Kairat Abdrakhmanov, the Kazakh foreign minister.
The mechanism will also seek to “prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire,” the statement said.
“There are very intense discussions because this is not about a paper; it is about cessation of hostilities, which means saving lives,” Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy to Syria, said at the beginning of the second day of talks on Tuesday.
Al Jazeera reports that opposition spokesman Yahya al-Aridi had earlier played down expectations that the rebels would sign a potential collective statement at the end of the talks, saying that several obstacles still needed to be overcome.
The talks mark the first time the Syrian opposition was represented solely by representatives of armed groups.
At the conclusion of the two-day conference on Syria's nearly six-year war in Astana, the three countries said they will use their “influence” to strengthen the shaky truce, which has been in place since December 30.
They did not specify how that would work, and the U.N.'s Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, only said that the three sides will meet soon in Astana to lay the parameters for a mechanism to reinforce the truce, according to The Associated Press.
Following the declaration, Syria's delegates to the Astana meeting held competing press conferences that underlined the enormous differences between the two sides.
Russia and Turkey had negotiated the shaky December 30 cease-fire and Iran had approved it. The cease-fire greatly reduced the violence in Syria, but violations continued and the Syrian opposition and the government and its allies exchanged blame.
The meeting's final statement said the three countries "will seek through concrete steps and using the influence of the parties the consolidation the cease-fire" and agreed "to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the cease fire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire."
The statement said the three nations will continue their joint efforts in fighting the extremist Islamic State group and the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria. They called on the opposition to separate themselves from the al-Qaida-affiliate, a sticky point that has previously been the reason for the failure of previous cease-fire.
Astana featured a brief face-to-face meeting between the government and rebel representatives — their first since the Syrian war began in 2011 — that was quickly followed by harsh exchanges.
But the talks were largely indirect, mediated by the United Nations envoy, The Associated Press noted.
After the final statement and in a briefing with journalists, Syria's opposition delegation said it is "too early to judge the outcome" of the Astana meeting, saying they are not party to the agreement and have many reservations.
According to opposition representatives, they provided a paper to Russia detailing ways to monitor and enforce the cease-fire, and Russia has promised to address it within a week, in coordination with Turkey.
The Syrian government and the armed opposition negotiated behind the closed doors. Russia’s Sputnik news agency says the Damascus delegation spoke first, followed by the armed opposition, Russia, Iran, Turkey, the United States and the United Nations.
The Astana negotiations will be followed by a UN-mediated meeting in Geneva expected to take place on February 8.
