Saleh Muslim, the co-chairman of Syria’s most powerful Kurdish party, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), has been holding talks in Geneva with Russian and Western officials in preparation for the planned Geneva II peace conference between the Syrian government and opposition groups. I caught Muslim in Paris on Nov. 7 to seek his views on what progress had been achieved and where his group stood on a solution to the two-year Syrian conflict.

Muslim said the Geneva II talks were unlikely to take place in the near future. He blamed the lack of progress on the Istanbul-based Syrian National Coalition (SNC), and regional powers Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

All are demanding that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down as a precondition for any peace agreement. Saudi Arabia is opposed to Iran’s participation. That position is expected to be reiterated when the SNC meets in Istanbul on Nov. 9 and 10.

The PYD sees matters differently: Muslim argued that demanding Assad’s resignation was “unnecessary when it is patently clear that he will be shorn of all his powers in any transitional government.” The Kurdish leader added, “We are working on the basis of the principles agreed during Geneva I, and our focus should be to build on these, not to throw up unrealistic hurdles