Syria: US and Russia revive hopes for 'Geneva 2' peace talks

[another_liberal]

Last edited Fri Sep 13, 2013, 12:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: The Guardian

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, and the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, have said they hope that talks on chemical weapons will help revive an international plan for a "Geneva 2" conference to end the war in Syria. Kerry, who described the talks as "constructive", told a news conference in Geneva that he and Lavrov planned to meet in New York later this month and hoped to agree a date for the Geneva 2 conference then.

Russia and the US were working hard to find common ground for a negotiated solution to the crisis, but both needed to do some homework first, Kerry said, without giving any details. "We've both agreed to do that homework and meet again in New York around the time of the UN general assembly, around the 28th[of September], in order to see if it is if possible to find a date for that conference, much of which will depend on the capacity to have success here in the next hours, days, on the subject of the chemical weapons."

Lavrov said Russian and US experts needed to engage with the UN Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to design a roadmap to resolve the issue as soon as practical. He said the work on chemical weapons would go on in parallel with preparatory work for the Geneva peace conference. "We agreed to meet in New York on the margins of the general assembly and see where we are and see what the Syrian parties think about it and do about it, and we hope we would be able to be a bit more specific when we meet with you in New York."


Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/13/syria-us-russia-geneva-peace-talks

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Sec. Kerry says the effort to end Syria's civil war without a U. S. intervention is on again.

[Little Star]

1. My fingers are crossed. k&r

[another_liberal]

2. Yes, mine too.

Here's hoping the talk of war is over.

[another_liberal]

5. Done.

That was rather self-indulgent of me.

[blm]

4. I trust that Kerry and Lavrov are on the same page and both committed to

diplomatic process. The two have been working on Syria solutions for most of this year and months before the chemical attack.

The opportunity to apply leverage to Assad from both sides was there after the attack and they took it.

http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-lavrov-kerry-geneva/25071543.html

[NCTraveler]

6. Good read.

The fluidity and changes with all of the players involved in this is mind boggling. Unfortunately, so much of it is posturing and propaganda that it is hard to tell what is really going on. I think it has become so political that the people of Syria are no longer the number one concern. Who comes out on top looking like the world leader is.

[YvonneCa]

7. The solutions ARE political. IMHO,it's better...

...to work through political debate, a 'war of words', rather than a real war. I am grateful to Secretary Kerry for his efforts in this regard.

[NCTraveler]

8. Politics is often about the appearance of a win...

Regardless of the issue at hand. Politics is not always beneficial. It does not mean "diplomacy".