Russia's Syria policy gains traction

In advance of the second round of the Geneva II talks, Russian diplomacy was in high gear and not limited to official contacts with Damascus. Indeed, a delegation from the Syrian National Coalition, led by Ahmad Jarba, arrived in Moscow on Feb. 4. At least the parties "started to understand each other better," but serious disagreements remain.

Moscow would like to see a more representative opposition delegation at the negotiations, including, among others, Kurds and the National Coordination Committee for Democrat Change, an internal political opposition grouping that was not part of the opposition Geneva delegation. But after his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Jarba emphasized that the National Coalition is opposed to expanding the delegation to include the "pocket opposition" — and who is that? The National Coalition wants very much to reach an agreement as quickly as possible on the formation of a transitional authority. Moscow underscores that only the parties in the conflict can do this, and that this will be the result of lengthy and painstaking work. Moscow, citing the agreements at the G-8 meeting in Lough Erne, is focusing special attention on fighting terrorism, but as I heard from opposition representatives, they do not want to "turn Geneva II into an anti-terrorism forum." Notably, in a Feb. 4 interview with RIA Novosti, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov even named the countries that are the "biggest mercenary recruiting centers" — France, Germany, Great Britain and Belgium — while there are mercenaries from Russia as well.