Beirut: The resignation of the two top Syrian opposition negotiators at the Geneva peace talks could be a blessing in disguise for Russia.
Mohammad Alloush, commander of the Saudi-backed Jaish Al Islam rebel group, and Asa’ad Al Zoabi, an officer who defected from the Syrian army, quit the talks on Sunday night calling it a “waste of time”.
The resignations comes just three days after the UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said that the talks would not convene for quite some time, giving a rough estimate of three to four weeks.
The temporary pause in the Syrian peace process, in the long run, serves Russia’s political interests as both Alloush and Al Zoabi were proving to be a thorn its side.
Moscow has relentlessly tried to push these men out of the talks as they prefer to stack the opposition delegation with Russian-backed figures.
In his resignation statement, Alloush sounded very disappointed at the pace and result of the Geneva talks, describing them as “unsuccessful”.
In all previous three rounds, not only was no breakthrough achieved but the vision for a political solution was shifting in Russia’s favour.
Already, the ceiling for the resumption of talks started out very low, calling for a power-sharing agreement rather than regime change, which Washington had initially insisted on.
The Syrian opposition is unhappy with the US position, accusing them of tacitly backing Russia’s vision.
