US lack of unified stance resulted in failure of Syria peace talks: Russia

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

Russia’s Foreign Ministry says Syria peace talks failed because US lacks a unified stance on the subject.

“The problem is that for the whole time we were involved in Russian-American negotiations… we realized very clearly that the US had no joint position. Different organizations, different structures in Washington were taking different positions on what’s going on Syria. They had absolutely different views,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova during an interview with RT on Tuesday.

She noted that US officials constantly changed their mind and point of view over the events in Syria. “Probably, that was the main reason why they failed in fulfilling those agreements that we achieved,” she added.

Zakharova also pointed out that another reason for the failure of the talks was that the presidential race in the US, where “international relationship is like a small puzzle.” 

On Monday, US State Department spokesman John Kirby (seen below) said that Washington is suspending participation in bilateral channels with Moscow that were established to maintain the cessation of hostilities in the war-torn country.

He also accused Russia of not living up to its commitments under a ceasefire agreement by stepping up airstrikes in the divided city of Aleppo, which has been divided between government forces in the west and the militants in the east since 2012. 

Zakharova went on to deny the US’s claims, stating that Washington itself was to blame for the breakdown of the peace efforts.

“The reality was very clear. We had two main tasks. First one was the separation of Jabhat al-Nusra [terrorists] and moderate opposition. And our American colleagues failed in fulfilling their promise. The second task was to pull back the governmental forces and moderate opposition forces from Castello Road. And our American colleagues, unfortunately, failed for the second time,” she added.

Terrorists from the former al-Nusra Front -- renamed Fateh al-Sham Front after breaking from al-Qaeda -- pose for a picture. (Photo by AFP)  

Moscow has long insisted that the US-backed moderate opposition groups in Syria should leave the areas held by terrorists, which are targeted in the Russian air campaign.

She added that according to US officials, Washington was no longer capable of influencing the so-called moderate opposition.

“Actually, we’re not sure that moderate opposition still exists. Because these guys, who were fighting for many months as Jabhat al-Nusra – with the same weapons, using same methods – hardly could be called moderate opposition. But we respected our American colleagues, who were insisting that these guys are still moderate,” she stressed.

According to UN estimates, over 400,000 people have died so far in the foreign-sponsored militancy in Syria, which started in March 2011.