March marks the seventh anniversary of the Syrian insurgence, but the war's end remains elusive. While it has taken the offensive, Damascus can't resolve the conflict militarily without foreign help, and instead is forced to pretend it is willing to consider political reforms.
On March 16 in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana, the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran summed up the results of their cooperation since January 2017, when indirect talks between Syrian rebel factions and government representatives took place. Representatives of the Syrian government and opposition leaders didn’t attend the Astana meeting this time. During a press conference, the foreign ministers — representing the three countries acting as guarantors of the Astana peace process — exchanged statements about maintaining cooperation, welcomed the progress made and planned the next round of talks for mid-May.
