U.S., Russia fail to bridge Syria gap, risking peace talks

The top U.S. and Russian diplomats failed on Wednesday to bridge divisions over which belligerents in Syria’s five-year civil war should be labeled “terrorist,” an issue that is holding up the start of peace talks.

John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov couldn’t agree during three hours of discussions in Zurich on who’s allowed a seat at the table at United Nations-sponsored talks between the Syrian government and opposition, a condition for the negotiations to start on schedule next week. Even so, Lavrov said the United States and Russia hope the talks can begin by the end of the month.

Lavrov said Russia still considers two radical Islamist militias backed by Gulf states and Turkey — Ahrar as-Sham and Army of Islam — as terrorist groups that can’t be part of the Syrian negotiations. “We expect our arguments to be taken on board,” he said after the meeting.

The Syrian opposition has included a representative of Army of Islam in its delegation and is resisting Russian pressure to include Moscow-friendly groups in the talks. More than three months of Russian airstrikes in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have turned the tide of the conflict, which has killed 250,000 people and triggered Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. Assad’s forces, once near defeat, seized a strategic town on the Turkish border last week and are closing in on an Islamic State stronghold, also near Turkey.

Invitations on hold

U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday that the world body will only go ahead with issuing invitations for the Geneva talks scheduled for Jan. 25 once major powers come to an agreement on which rebel groups should attend.

“When this process starts, we can talk about a cease-fire, except for terrorist groups,” Lavrov said. “We hope the political process will start in the nearest future.”

Kerry and Lavrov agreed on “the importance of maintaining progress toward a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in an emailed statement. Kerry pressed Russia to use its influence with the Assad regime to ensure “immediate, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all Syrians in need,” Kirby said.