Russia, Kazakhstan discuss future of the Syria war

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed the Syria crisis by phone, the Kremlin said today, after peace talks in Kazakhstan closed without any substantive negotiations.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin and Nazarbayev exchanged views over the third round of talks on the Syria crisis in the Kazakh capital of Astana this week, but gave no further details.

The Astana talks ended on Wednesday without progress after the opposition boycotted the meeting, accusing the Kremlin of failing to abide by the terms of the ceasefire agreement signed in December.

The talks are run by Russia, Turkey and Iran, backers of the warring sides, and have little UN involvement. Russia, Turkey and Iran agreed to hold the next meeting in Astana on 3-4 May.

In a separate statement today, Russia’s foreign ministry said that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also discussed Syria on the phone with French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Lavrov said that the refusal by the opposition to join the Kazakh talks show “some countries” are trying to harm the peace process in Syria, the statement said. Lavrov did not name the countries.

Read: Russia accuses opposition of ‘sabotaging’ Syria talks

The opposition, who attended previous rounds in the Kazakh capital refused to join the latest talks, accusing Russia of failing to uphold December’s shaky ceasefire that it guaranteed, alongside Turkey and Iran, would ensure an end to the violence.

Since the ceasefire, the Assad regime has continued its bombardment of Syrian towns and cities without any let up, and without any Russian criticism.

The foreign ministry statement added that both Russia and France agreed to work together preparing another round of parallel, United Nations-led Syria peace talks set for 23 March in Geneva.

UN mediator Staffan de Mistura had earlier proposed to the negotiators in Geneva that the issue of fighting terrorism and the ceasefire should be handled in parallel talks in Astana. He wanted the focus in Geneva to be a new constitution, UN-supervised elections and accountable governance, based on Security Council resolution 2254.

Many parties involved in the Syria peace process, including Russia, have said that Astana talks do not substitute negotiations in Geneva.

Opposition fighters, their families and other civilians began leaving their last bastion in the Syrian city of Homs today after months of bombardment and siege, under a Russian-backed deal with the Assad regime expected to be among the largest evacuations of its kind.