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Syrian Opposition to Decide on Attending Sochi Congress after Vienna Talks

UN-sponsored peace talks on Syria will be held in Vienna on Thursday and Friday. (Reuters)
UN-sponsored peace talks on Syria will be held in Vienna on Thursday and Friday. (Reuters)
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Syrian Opposition to Decide on Attending Sochi Congress after Vienna Talks

UN-sponsored peace talks on Syria will be held in Vienna on Thursday and Friday. (Reuters)
UN-sponsored peace talks on Syria will be held in Vienna on Thursday and Friday. (Reuters)

United Nations-sponsored peace talks on Syria are set to resume in Vienna on Thursday where the Syrian High Negotiations Committee is expected to announce its final decision on whether to attend next week’s Sochi peace congress.

Syrian opposition and regime representatives are set to meet in the Austrian capital after failing last month to achieve a breakthrough in the eighth round of the Geneva talks.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday there was no sign of a political solution for Syria other than the Vienna talks and they were the “last hope”.

UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura said that the talks are being held at a “very, very critical” time.

The Syrian High Negotiations Committee is expected to declare from Vienna is final decision on attending the Sochi congress, announced Commission spokesman Yehya al-Aridi to Asharq Al-Awsat.

The official made his remarks in wake of talks he held in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“We came to Russia with an agenda on our vision of the political solution,” added Aridi after the four-hour talks in the Russian capital.

“The Russian side listened with interest to the opposition ideas, but it did not make any response to them,” he continued.

The talks at the Russian Foreign Ministry did not reach “conclusive” results, but they “take on a special importance,” remarked the Syrian official.

The two sides instead agreed to continue coordination. Russia will dispatch its deputy foreign minister to Vienna.

“He will listen to our ideas during the negotiations and we will then make our final decision on attending Sochi,” Aridi explained.

Sources from the Commission said that the two-day Vienna meeting will serve as a real test for the regime and Russians in determining whether they are serious in reaching a solution to the Syrian conflict.

Prior to traveling to Vienna, head of the Commission Nasr al-Hariri had held talks on Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Sochi congress will be held on January 29 and 30.

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Hamdok: Retaking Khartoum or Forming a Government Won’t End Sudan’s War

Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (Reuters)
Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (Reuters)
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Hamdok: Retaking Khartoum or Forming a Government Won’t End Sudan’s War

Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (Reuters)
Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (Reuters)

Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has warned that recent military gains by the Sudanese army, including the recapture of Khartoum, will not bring an end to the country’s devastating civil war.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Mo Ibrahim Governance Forum in Morocco, Hamdok dismissed efforts by the Port Sudan-based authorities to appoint a new prime minister and form a government, calling them “fake” and “irrelevant.”

There is no military solution to this conflict, Hamdok told The Associated Press, adding that whether Khartoum is taken or not, “it doesn’t matter,” as neither side can achieve a decisive victory.

The forum, held in Marrakech from June 1 to 3, brought together African and international leaders to discuss governance and development challenges across the continent.

Sudan’s conflict dominated the discussions, with members of the civilian coalition Sumud - led by Hamdok - highlighting the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe and rejecting military-led political maneuvers.

Sumud leaders warned that attempts to restore Sudan’s African Union membership, suspended after the 2021 military coup, could legitimize a flawed political process. They urged the international community not to fall into what they described as a “trap” by recognizing unrepresentative governance.

More than two years of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have left at least 24,000 dead, though many believe the true toll is far higher. Over 13 million people have been displaced, including 4 million who fled to neighboring countries. Famine and disease, including cholera, are spreading rapidly.

Despite the army’s territorial gains and the recent appointment of Kamil al-Tayeb Idris as prime minister, the RSF has regrouped in Darfur and advanced in other regions, including Kordofan. Hamdok dismissed suggestions that these developments signal an end to the war, calling such claims “nonsense.”

Hamdok, Sudan’s first civilian prime minister in decades, led a fragile transition following the 2019 ouster of Omar al-Bashir. He resigned in early 2022 after a military coup derailed efforts at democratic reform. Now, he warns that genuine peace is impossible without addressing Sudan’s deep-rooted issues, including regional inequality, identity conflicts, and the role of religion in governance.

“Any attempt to rebuild the country while fighting continues is absurd,” Hamdok said. “Trusting the military to deliver democracy is a dangerous illusion.”