War in Syria: Russian and NATO leaders fight for peace

ISTANBUL – Russian, Turkish, French and German leaders met here Saturday to try to end the long war against Syria, a process over which Moscow has considerable influence.

But as each country underscored its commitment to end the seven-year conflict, the summit yielded few concrete results, highlighting the challenges ahead in achieving a peace formula against rival factions, extremist groups and the international community. Western reluctance to renew dialogue with Syrian President Bashar. Al-Assad.

At a closing press conference, participants reiterated their long-standing calls for a political and non-military solution.

Describing the talks as "fruitful and sincere", Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the four participants agreed to support a UN-backed initiative to form a new constitutional committee for Syria by the end of the year. l & # 39; year.

"There will be no real, lasting and credible return of refugees if the political process is not initiated," said French President Emmanuel Macron.

A final statement from leaders called for "an inclusive political process, led by and controlled by Syrians" and the convening of a committee by the end of the year to work on reform Constitutional Treaty as a prelude to free and fair action supported by the UN. elections.

However, there were few indications that this would likely materialize in the short term.

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Participants in a previous peace conference in Sochi, Russia, decided to form a 150-member committee to rewrite the Syrian constitution, a third chosen by the government, a third by opposition groups and a third by the United Nations.

Staffan de Mistura, a senior US diplomat in Syria, told reporters on Friday that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moalem rejected the idea that the UN should play a role in the composition of the committee.

"Minister Moualem said that he would contact me if new instructions came from his own leaders," de Mistura said.

As the talks ended on Saturday, Turkish public television showed Erdogan, Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel strolling through the gardens of an Ottoman-era mansion, the Air relaxed and ignoring the cameras.

Each of them leads a country somewhat upset by the war in Syria. Turkey has been the hardest hit, hosting 3.5 million refugees while becoming a rallying point for terrorist attacks. "Hundreds of citizens and security personnel have been injured or even martyred," Erdogan said Saturday.

Russia intervened militarily to strengthen the Assad regime, also backed by Iran. Germany and France have hosted tens of thousands of Syrians who fled the fighting.

But experts compared the summit to a high-profile photo shoot that mainly reflected Russia's influence on the final phase of the conflict.

"You can not expect anything from this weekend's summit," said Tobias Schneider, research fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin.

"It is above all an expression of the very real leverage of Russia, which lobbied for aid for reconstruction [without] political transition, takes into account other external actors invested in stability in Syria, "he added.

Russian airpower was crucial to allow Assad's forces to take over the entire area controlled by the rebels. The anti-Assad groups are now confined to the Idlib province in the north of the country, and are surrounded by more than 2 million civilians.

Western aid agencies and governments have long warned that a last assault on the region could result in a humanitarian disaster. In response, Russia and Turkey reached an agreement last month to reduce tensions and ensure that a final battle is unlikely in the short term.

Across Syria, factions such as the Islamic State and militant groups linked to al Qaeda maintain their position and face US-led coalition air strikes.

A war watchdog group announced Saturday that the Islamic State group had killed at least 40 Syrian fighters backed by the US and had recaptured areas near the Iraqi border during fighting during a sandstorm. .

Colonel Sean Ryan, spokesman for the US-led coalition, said the coalition officials had no confirmation of the exact figures, "while both sides are suffering losses" in what he said. He called it a "difficult fight".

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