GENEVA, January 31, 3:02 /ITAR-TASS/. The first round of the inter-Syrian talks in Geneva that ends on Friday can be described as an undoubted success of world diplomacy and of the United Nations and the Arab League Special Envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, personally. The Algerian diplomat, with the assistance of the expert delegations of Russia and the United States, managed to achieve the main thing, to put the locomotive on a peace track. No one, certainly, can say now how many stops there will be on this track, where the final stop is and how many blocks will have to be cleared on the way to peace. But the main thing has been done - the train is on the track to peace and it started moving. This gives rise to hope that the many years of horror in this amazingly beautiful and once flourishing country will be put behind and things will start improving.
The first round has not brought and, perhaps, could not bring any specific arrangements, as the sides have too profound differences and the opposition represented at the talks is not very influential, not much known on the world scene and hardly known in Syria. However, none of the sides dared quit the talks so as not to be blamed for failing the peace process. And this means that the dialogue will continue.
Bouthaina Shaaban, adviser to the Syrian president, stressed in an interview with Itar-Tass on Thursday that she waits Russia to increase pressure on the United States so that more powerful personalities be represented on the opponent’s side in the next round of the talks, someone who could really impact the situation in Syria and help stop the bloodshed between Syrians.
The ultimate task is to rally forces to wipe out international terrorism from Syrian cities. This takes rallying all Syrian forces. Geneva conference is the initial, if a small step, on this extremely difficult road. And the first round has been an unqualified success.