International peace talks have been taking place for several years now in an effort to come to a political solution for the ongoing war in Syria. Yet the recent Astana talks, much like the previous Geneva talks, have demonstrated that they have little impact on the ground, as both the Syrian government and regional actors continue to push their own agendas.
From the get-go, the Syrian government has made it clear that its agenda is to take back “all of Syria,” and the talks in Astana — brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran, between the Syrian government and certain Syrian opposition factions — did little to deter the Syrian government as it worked diligently on its own plan, irrespective of what was being discussed at the talks.