Efforts to bring together the Syrian interim government and the Syrian Democratic Forces for a deal that would see the Kurdish-led military and civilian structures in northeast Syria integrate with those in Damascus will continue apace, France’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday. 

The statement followed a meeting between US Syria envoy Tom Barrack, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris to discuss the situation in Syria “at a critical moment for Syria.”

Syria’s Foreign Ministry put out a separate statement also pledging “to continue consultations between the Syrian government and the SDF in Paris as soon as possible for full implementation of the March 10 agreement,” referring to one signed between Sharaa and the SDF's commander-in-chief, Mazlum Kobane, on a framework for the two sides to unite.

The need for a deal with Syria’s Kurds — who control roughly a quarter of the country, including major oil and water resources — has grown in the wake of deadly clashes between Bedouin Arab tribes and members of the Druze minority in Suwayda over the past two weeks. The government’s failure to quell the violence and Israel’s subsequent airstrikes in defense of the Druze have left interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa looking weak, prompting growing dissatisfaction with his rule even among his Sunni supporters, analysts say.