UN Security Council supports Turkey-Russia peace talks on Syria

Differences over the USA -backed Syrian Kurdish forces in Syria are driving a wedge between Turkey and its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally, the United States.

Russian Federation on Friday submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council supporting the ceasefire it helped broker in Syria as well as planned peace talks in Kazakhstan.

The fighting in Syria has occasionally spilled over into neighbouring Turkey, with several attacks blamed on IS or Kurdish militants. Furthering the fragility of the agreement, Turkey demanded Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group that the USA considers a terrorist organization, evacuate Syria.

The ceasefire does not extend to terrorist groups like ISIS and the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda, or “groups linked to them”, though the definition of that is vague.

Usama Abu Zeyd, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) spokesman, said the rebels had held no direct talks with the Syrian government or Iran during the truce talks and insisted that President Bashar al-Assad would have no place in the future of Syria.

The truce deal will go into effect from midnight, Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu said, with the Syrian military announcing that it was gearing up to halt all operations.

The United Nations Security Council is to vote on a resolution endorsing the ceasefire in Syria and reinforcing support for a road map to peace, starting with a transitional government.

The monitoring group said that in ongoing Turkish airstrikes against Islamic State positions in northern Syria, some 23 of the group’s extremists had been killed.

On Saturday morning, Syrian opposition figures issued an ultimatum to the Syrian government to stop all hostilities against Wadi Barada at 8pm or “face a full resumption of hostilities”, according to a statement released on social media by various rebel groups.

Mr. Assad has called Mr. Trump “a natural ally” in that fight, and the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said on Thursday that Mr. Trump’s administration would be welcome to join the peace process after he starts on January 20.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said President-elect Donald Trump’s administration would be welcome to join the Syrian peace process once he takes office.

A Lebanese commentator told Al-Arab that a withdrawal of Hezbollah forces from Syria would have risky consequences, because – he claimed – it will make it hard for Iran to prove that it is still a strong player in the region.

“All foreign fighters need to leave Syria”.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara had basically agreed with Moscow on the necessity to get the new USA administration headed by Donald Trump involved in solving the Syria crisis.

Mr Putin said Russian Federation would scale back its presence in the country, where it has provided crucial support to the government, though he did not specify how many troops or weapons would be withdrawn.

The Observatory also reported at least 16 government air strikes across several areas in Hama province in central Syria, with no casualties.

Demands that troops from Lebanese Shi’ite Hezbollah leave Syria may not sit well with Iran, another major supporter of Assad. Rebel factions have already claimed that the Syrian government has not fully abided by the ceasefire.