Talks between Washington and Moscow continue over the US plan presented to Russia to contain Iran and to tackle principles of the Syrian settlement amid disagreement over the “sequence” of its implementation.
The plan is expected to be discussed during the high-level security meeting between US, Russia and Israel, which will be held in west Jerusalem on June 24.
According to what Asharq Al-Awsat has learned, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo presented mid-May an eight-point plan on the implementation of resolution 2254 to reach a political solution in Syria.
This took place during his visit to Sochi, where he met President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart Sergei Lavrov in the presence of US special envoy for Syria James Jeffrey.
The plan included articles that call for cooperation in the fight against terrorism and ISIS, weakening Iranian influence, eliminating weapons of mass destruction in Syria, providing humanitarian aid, supporting neighboring countries, preparing conditions for the return of Syrian refugees and ratifying the principle of holding those who committed war crimes in Syria accountable.
Russia seemed to agree on these principles, while sources pointed to a disagreement over the “sequence of implementation,” in conjunction with European doubts over the promises made by Moscow to Washington.
Jeffrey has earlier told Asharq Al-Awsat that his country wanted a full Iranian withdrawal from Syria and would not allow Iran to “fill the void” in the northeast of the country.
Meanwhile, White House national security adviser John Bolton and his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev are expected to discuss this plan before the three-party meeting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Moscow late March, during which he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has ended the tension between Russia and Israel after the latter shot down a Russian military plane near Syria's seacoast in September 2018.
Netanyahu proposed forming a “joint team to work on the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Syria.”
He also called for the continuation of “military coordination” between the two parties, leading to an agreement in which heads of the three countries’ national security councils meet in west Jerusalem.
