The msm isworking so hard to present the Astana meeting as a failure they've condemned it to failure before it has actually taken place! I'll include that information at the bottom of the postFrom the Astana Times:
ASTANA – Astana will host another round of talks on settling the conflict in Syria within the Astana Process March 14-15.
High-ranking delegations from Russia, Turkey and Iran have confirmed participation and invitations have been sent to representatives of the United States, United Nations and Jordan, according to a March 9 press release from the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The guarantor states are expecting confirmation of the participation of delegations from the government and the armed opposition of Syria.
Preliminary consultations are scheduled for March 14 and a plenary meeting is scheduled for March 15.
The plenary (a meeting to be attended by all participants at a conference or assembly, who otherwise meet in smaller groups) is scheduled for tomorrow- Therefore the meeting/plenary cannot possibly be derailed as it has not even occurred- A train cannot be derailed unless it has already been on the tracks and begun travel. For a meeting to be derailed it would have already begun without full participation- we will know that tomorrow about rebel participation and derailment would still be debatable.
According to the press release, within the framework of the Astana Process, launched with the full support and direct participation of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, there were two rounds of high-level international meetings on Syria on Jan.23-24 and Feb.15-16, as well as a meeting of experts on Feb.6. These meetings produced rules for a joint operational group to monitor the ceasefire regime in Syria paving the way for the parties to discuss the political agenda within the framework of the Geneva Process and in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015).
Russia’s chief negotiator says there is no threat of Astana talks disruption
ASTANA, March 14. /TASS/. There is no threat of disruption of the intra-Syrian negotiations in Astana, head of the Russian delegation, Presidential Envoy for the Syrian Settlement, Alexander Lavrentiev, said on Tuesday. "The Astana process continues and is moving forward. I would not talk about any threat of derailing the talks," he emphasized. "We have a lot of work to do. There are many issues concerning the ceasefire and all other issues related to the Syrian settlement, which we need to discuss. Naturally, we will do that." "Astana was originally created as a mechanism for trilateral cooperation," the diplomat recalled." "There are quite a few documents that need to be discussed and will contribute to consolidating the ceasefire. They require very careful, detailed discussion and work."
The Russian delegation is headed by special presidential envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev and also includes Maj. Gen. Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov as well as Director of Middle East and North Africa Department in the Foreign Ministry Sergey Vershinin. The UN expert delegation is led by Milos Strugar. The Delegations from Damascus, Turkey and Iran had already arrived in Astana for the talks. Representatives of the Syrian armed opposition, mainly from the South Front, may come later on Tuesday.
If you were to read Reuters or Nasdaq..You would believe the talks are derailed as the rebels are allegedly boycotting- And of course it's Turkey's fault- Imagine me rolling my eyes as I read out of context quotes offered up as proof of something that as of yet has not even occurred. Nor will the non appearance of rebel groups necessarily derail the talks for that matter.