There were mixed feelings in Russia among those following news from Geneva when they heard about the end of the second round of peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition without any results. While it was good that the delegations agreed to take talks into a new, third round, the failure of the second round demonstrated the stubbornness of both sides, one of which insisted on confining talks to fighting terrorism and the other on establishing a transitional governing body in Syria, left little room for hope for the third round's success. At the same time, the mere fact that the conflicting sides, as explained by mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, compromised by agreeing to put fighting terrorism on the agenda the first day of talks, and the establishment of a new transitional governing body on the second day, inspired optimism.
Though Brahimi voiced the decision to launch a new round of talks, I believe that this time the sides need a longer break than that between the first and the second round. The new round might start after a couple of weeks or even later, if I’m not mistaken. The results of the second round will be thoroughly studied in Damascus. The opposition also needs time to prepare for a new meeting in Geneva, and the mediators — the UN, Russia and the United States, as proposed by Brahimi, should hold a trilateral meeting to evaluate the results and define their strategy for the future, as well as bridging the gaps between their positions.
