Alexander Yakovenko: Russia and the US are partners in trying to end the war in Syria
The recent meeting in Munich of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) seeking a settlement in Syria — including Russia, the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran — came up with a plan to try to find ways to end the hostilities between Syrian opposition groups and the government, while not compromising on fighting Islamic State (IS) and other extremists. This followed the successes of the recent Syrian army offensive, which, in the view of experts, has gradually built up sufficient momentum to bring the civil war in Syria to an end.
To have an idea of the sheer challenge facing the international community, one has to look back at how the Syrian situation has evolved over the past four years. We witnessed the process of radicalisation on the opposition side. Many Syrian groups became involved with foreign terrorist organisations which were well supplied and financed by various regional players, who in turn projected their domestic political agendas onto the Syrian battleground.
It came to the point when the Americans gave up on finding people they could trust among the rebel groups fighting the Syrian government. We were told by our British colleagues a few months ago that the situation in Syria was a complete mess. The situation was further complicated by the emergence of IS, an explosive mix of religious fanatics and the rump of the Iraqi Ba’athist regime, including Saddam Hussein’s officer corps.
In the meantime the US assembled its anti-IS coalition of about 70 members, which delivered ineffective airstrikes at IS targets for more than a year before Russia had to intervene at the request of the Syrian government with its air force. Last summer we were told by our Western partners that in October Damascus would fall to IS. What they were planning to do next we don’t know. Probably, they would have ended up painting the extremists white and accepting them as a Sunni state straddling Iraq and Syria.
In these circumstances Russia’s intervention was a critical game-changer, allowing the democratic Syrian opposition to reappropriate the cause of a democratic and secular Syria, which was hijacked by foreign terrorist groups. It was only then that the main actors could come together within the ISSG to engage in a comprehensive effort to find a political solution in Syria and to eradicate IS. The scale of this ambitious dual task has never been underestimated, given the situation on the ground. That’s why the group agreed to compile the lists of bona fide opposition and terrorist groups. This is difficult because of regional scheming. For example, the Syrian Kurds haven’t been invited to Geneva talks because of opposition from Turkey.
This attempt, led by Russians and Americans, to separate moderate from extremist groups is crucial. It will allow the moderate opposition to sever their alliances with terrorist groups from abroad. It would also unshackle the Syrian army as the main force to fight IS on the ground. Thus a common anti-terrorist front could come into being, while a political solution to the Syrian crisis is discussed between the Government and the opposition in Geneva. Meanwhile, the Russian Air Force and the US-led coalition will continue their airstrikes against IS.
This approach is the real chance to resolve the Syrian problem. It’s not easy, but if we are to bring this war to an end, we have to try.
