Confusion over US presence at Astana Syria talks
A Russian invitation to the Trump transition team to send a representative to Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana Jan. 23 has caused confusion and revealed limited interactions between the incoming and outgoing US administrations.
WASHINGTON — Russia has issued an invitation to the Trump administration to send a representative to Syria peace talks set to get underway in the Kazakh capital of Astana next week. But amid the transition of power in Washington, there is confusion as to whether the United States will participate, who the new administration would send and who can even speak authoritatively for the intentions of the US government, which is changing presidents Jan. 20 but won’t have many foreign policy staff in place until later on.
At times, it seems that the incoming and outgoing administrations are observing their own kind of partial cease-fire, the former keeping the latter in the dark, even as it will inherit messy foreign policy challenges like Syria that largely ignore the US political calendar.
The awkwardness has been evident in trying to ascertain from the nonpartisan State Department even if the United States has received an invitation to Astana.
“Has there been a decision made on participation in the Kazakhstan conference on the 23rd?” a reporter asked at the State Department press briefing Jan. 17.
