US Seeks to Exclude EU From Peace Talks on Syria

The US government has torpedoed European proposals for a multilateral peace conference on Syria. Washington supports the idea of peace talks, but without the EU at the negotiation table, DWN wrote.

Taking into account the current refugee crisis, the EU is bearing the major burden of the civil war in Syria. Therefore, the US’ unwillingness to see Europeans at the negotiation table caused much surprise among European politicians.

There was a dispute between European diplomats and their US counterparts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, when French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had proposed to set up a multilateral format of negotiations on Syria, similar to the P5+1 talks on the Iranian nuclear program.

Britain, France and Germany have been supporting the idea to resolve the crisis together with the US, China, Russia and Iran. However, the US is welcoming only Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to the negotiation table.

A US official revealed on condition of anonymity that in the case of Syria, US Secretary of State John Kerry “preferred to keep the focus on countries that are directly involved,” according to Times of Israel.

Thus, as DWN reported, the EU made a mistake when unconditionally following the US course and spoiling its relations with Russia.

As for now, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has listed the United States, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Iran and Jordan among useful negotiators, without mentioning the EU.