REPORT: Syrian peace talks must continue, Kremlin says

Russia unequivocally supports the continuation of Syrian peace talks in Geneva, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, commenting on the decision by the mainstream Syrian opposition to take a pause in the negotiations.
  
"We believe this (the peace talks) is a necessary condition," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with journalists.
  
"The need to continue this dialogue and maintain the ceasefire regime was stressed yesterday during the telephone conversation between President Putin and President Obama." 
 
The Western-backed opposition High Negotiations Committee said in a letter to rebel fighters that government military advances meant a ceasefire was effectively over and it was calling a postponement in the talks.  

The postponement of Syria peace talks by the opposition is indefinite, with any resumption dependent on "correcting the path of the negotiations" and events on the ground, a senior opposition official said on Tuesday. 
 
"There is no date, the date is ... is the implementation of matters on the ground, and likewise the correction of the path of negotiations. All the while that does not happen, the time period will remain open," George Sabra told Orient TV. 
 
The opposition also had "big complaints" about U.S. policy which he said sought continued talks "without us obtaining anything real", he said. He called on international powers to supply Syrians with the means to defend themselves. 

 

The Syrian government's chief negotiator said his team was pushing for an expanded government led by President Bashar al-Assad at U.N.-led peace talks, and Assad's own future was not up for negotiation.

 

 

Syrian negotiator says Assad's future not up for discussion at peace talks

Bashar Ja'afari told Lebanese TV news channel al Maydeen the larger government they wanted would preserve all the country's existing institutions.

"In Geneva we have one mandate only to arrive at an expanded national government only, this is our mandate ... this is the goal we strive to achieve in the Geneva peace talks," Ja'afari said in comments broadcast overnight.

The Western-backed Syrian mainstream opposition decided on Monday to take a pause in peace talks saying the Syrian government was not serious about moving towards a U.N.-backed political process they say would bring a transitional governing body with full executive powers without Assad.  

 

 

Syrian government forces backed by Russian air power launched a counter-attack against rebels in the northwestern province of Latakia, a rebel group and a conflict monitor reported, as violence was reported across much of the northwest on Tuesday.
 
Targets included towns and villages where a partial truce agreement had brought about a lull in fighting between the government and rebels since Feb. 27. That agreement has unravelled in recent weeks.
 
Air strikes killed at least five people in the town of Kafr Nubl in the insurgent stronghold of Idlib province, and three others in nearby Maarat al-Numan, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring organisation reported.
 
Rockets fired by insurgents, meanwhile, killed three children in nearby Kefraya, a Shi'ite town loyal to the government, it said. State media said the dead were members of one family.
 
The fighting in Latakia was focused on areas where insurgent groups had launched an attack on government forces on Monday, and where battles had often erupted despite the cessation of hostilities agreement.
 
"The regime is trying to storm the area, with the participation of Russian helicopters and Sukhoi (warplanes)," said Fadi Ahmad, spokesman for the First Coastal rebel group in the area. The Observatory said fighting had been raging since morning.
 
Government air strikes and barrel bombing was also reported in northern areas of Homs province that are under rebel control. The use of barrel bombs, or oil drums filled with explosives, has been denied by the Syrian government but widely recorded including by a U.N. commission of inquiry on Syria.
 
The Syrian army could not immediately be reached for comment.