Russia denies inviting US to Syria peace talks

The Kremlin denied on Monday reports that indicated that it had invited the United States to the upcoming Syria peace talks due to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan on 23 January, as US President-elect Donald Trump is due to assume office in three days.

Moscow also denied scheduling meetings with Trump in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik soon after president-elect’s inauguration ceremony on 20 January.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow yesterday: “Preparations for Astana talks are continuing. It is a difficult process.”

When pressed on whether or not the United States had been invited to Astana, even under Trump, Peskov responded with a blunt: “No.”

He also denied reports about a meeting supposedly scheduled between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Iceland reported to take place weeks after Trump’s inauguration.

The Kremlin spokesman reiterated that preparations for the Astana talks were difficult, and stressed that they were not an “alternative” to other processes, but was rather “supplementary” to initiatives such as that launched in Geneva by the US and other countries under the banner of the “Friends of Syria”.

Peskov’s comments appear to be contradictory, however,to statements released by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Russia’s most senior diplomat was quoted by AP today as confirming that the United States had been invited. This was confirmed by Moscow’s state-backed RT who quoted Lavrov as saying: “We think it would be the right thing to invite the representatives of the UN and the new US administration to the meeting…We’re counting on the new [US] administration accepting this invitation.”

Speaking about US involvement in the Astana talks, Lavrov said that “it will be the first official contact during which we could begin discussing…fighting terrorism in Syria.”