In a surprising move on Monday Vladimir Putin decided to start withdrawing military forces from Syria. The abrupt manner in which the decision was made is very characteristic of the Russian leader and how he has been handling the Syrian crisis. It has been almost 6 months since Vladimir Putin ordered to launch an aerial operation in the country despite initial assessments that it would only take three to four months.
“I consider ...
... opposition bloc, held its first informal meeting with UN negotiators on February 1. Notably, the opposition demanded that airstrikes be halted and political prisoners be released for the negotiations to go further. These demands, however, contradicted what Russia and the United States promised on January 15 when Secretary of State Kerry and Foreign Minister Lavrov announced talks in Geneva with no preconditions.
It appears that the Higher Negotiating Committee was not going to appear in Geneva at all but ...
... current borders, although the country obviously has a history stretching back several thousand years. Before World War One, the territory and its population, mostly Arabs, was... ... weaker partner, and resented the Egyptians’ dominance.
Photo: REUTERS/Gary Cameron
Geneva II: Place to Establish Official Contacts.
Interview with Dmitri Trenin
The fragility... ... and consequently for the elimination of all current borders between Arab countries.
Russia made a significant contribution to alleviating the Syrian conflict in fall 2013...
Interview
In his interview with RIAC, Dmitry Trenin, Director of Carnegie Moscow Centre and RIAC member, offers his comments on the interim results of Geneva II and Russian-U.S. cooperation in assisting to resolve the conflict in Syria.
The main mission of the Geneva II Conference was to bring together the government forces and the opposition in Syria to negotiate the end of the civil war. What do you think about ...