Does ‘Syrian trio’ of Russia, Iran and Turkey have a future?

There are signs that the Astana talks on the Syrian war — which began in 2017 and are sponsored by Moscow, Ankara and Tehran — have little prospect of making progress going forward.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (C) shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu following their talks on Syria in Astana on March 16, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Alexey FILIPPOV (Photo credit should read ALEXEY FILIPPOV/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (C) shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu following their talks on Syria in Astana on March 16, 2018. - ALEXEY FILIPPOV/AFP via Getty Images
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Kirill Semenov
@IbnRasibi
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On Feb. 16-17, the Russian seaside town of Sochi hosted the 15th round of Syrian peace talks between Russia, Iran and Turkey — the three guarantor countries of the so-called Astana talks. The Astana process began over four years ago, when the trio hosted talks between a Syrian opposition delegation and representatives from Damascus in the Kazakh capital of Nur Sultan (formerly Astana) in January 2017.

In addition to the three sponsor states, representatives of international organizations — including the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross — as well as delegations from the Syrian government and the opposition took part in the latest round of negotiations. The event was held in Sochi due to COVID-19 restrictions in Nur Sultan.

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