US-brokered talks on integrating Syria’s interim government with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have yet to yield results, despite a December deadline set in March when the sides signed a landmark deal to merge their forces and institutions.

Just a day after the US special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, said that the talks were going “amazingly well,” Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said the opposite, telling Al-Monitor that "no positive or practical steps” had been taken so far. 

The sides continue to blame the other for the lack of progress. Interim government officials accuse the Kurds of "maximalism,” saying the violence in Suwayda and Israel’s intervention in defense of the Druze bolstered their confidence, leading them to pile on even more demands. The Kurds say the government was never sincere to start with and is waiting to assert full control over the country before it strikes.

The sides remain nonetheless committed to continuing dialogue amid heightened US pressure to strike a final deal. The longer they fail to reach one, the greater the risk that ongoing skirmishes between the sides could lead to all out conflict.