Russia accuses US of hijacking preparations for Syria talks

And fighters in Iraq and Syria have been able to take back strategic sites, including oil refineries that the Islamic State group was using to raise funds.

The discussions will bring together around 20 countries and worldwide bodies to hammer out a roadmap for peace to end Syria’s more than four-year civil war, and diplomats said working level talks are set to begin in advance on Thursday. “This broad spectrum is showing in this document that you can”, said Salman Shaikh, who led the project at Brookings before he stepped down as its director this year. He also said the coalition has cut into the amount of territory under the militant group’s control.

“I can not say this afternoon that we are on the threshold of a comprehensive agreement, no”, he said in a speech to the US Institute of Peace.

The Russian document, entitled “Approach To The Settlement of The Syrian Crisis”, focuses on both opposition and “terrorist groups”, and the need to differentiate between them. Government troops were forced to increase operations.

“We dedicate this victory to President Bashar al-Assad and we promise him we will continue fighting until all of Syria is liberated”, one of the soldiers from the airbase said, according to Reuters.

“Regarding presidential elections there will be no talk about it. The president has a term and when it ends then we can talk about it”, Shehadeh said.

“For all intents and purposes, the USA is already playing on Russian and Iranian turf”, Badran added.

“The United States’ position is there is no way that President Assad can unite and govern Syria”, he said.

Moscow has put forward a peace proposal for the talks, which calls for elections after an 18-month constitutional reform process, but Western officials have dismissed the plan as it does not ensure that Assad will be removed from power.

Without explicitly naming Russian Federation, the draft would have the committee saying the United Nations “strongly condemns all attacks against the Syrian moderate opposition and calls for their immediate cessation, given that such attacks benefit Daesh and other terrorist groups, such as Al-Nusra Front”.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shake hands after making statements following meetings regarding Syria, at a news conference in Geneva September 14, 2013.

“The Russians are basically trying to wiggle out of Geneva”, said Mustafa Alani, director of defense and security at the Gulf Research Center (GRC) think tank. Given the disarray among them and their ineptitude on the battlefield, it isn’t clear who they are, much less who will represent them in negotiations.

Recent NYT stories seem to suggest that abortion rights in the US are certain, but gun rights may not be. But the Pentagon has claimed that over 90% of Russian strikes in Syria have not targeted the Islamic State.

Kerry will arrive in Vienna on Saturday after visiting Tunis on Friday. The talks are also a follow-up to Essebsi’s May visit to Washington.

The USA has played a significant role in helping Tunisia stabilize its democratic institutions in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring.

The proposal also says the presidential office would retain control of the army and foreign policy.

Tony Badran, a researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, predicted last month that Iran’s presence at the talks would “corner the few remaining backers of the Syrian revolution”. The charge was denied by USA officials, who expressed surprise that Moscow did not show up.

Kerry wraps up his three-nation tour in Antalya, where he will join President Barack Obama for a G-20 Leaders Summit.