Threat of Syrian Government Being Toppled by Force Was 'Neutralized' in 2016

The UN Security Council held a meeting on Syria, after a ceasefire regime has been established in the country. Then, talks on the Syrian settlement will be organized in Astana. The talks will allow for restarting the Syrian peace process, political analyst Dmitry Egorchenkov told Radio Sputnik.

On Saturday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution drafted by Russia that endorses a nationwide Syrian ceasefire, which was brokered by Moscow and Ankara.

The UNSC members welcomed the agreements and stressed the importance of its "full and immediate implementation." Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Syrian government and the armed opposition had reached an agreement allowing for a ceasefire and talks. Russia and Turkey were named the guarantors of the ceasefire.

President Putin also called on warring parties and regional players to endorse the agreement and participate in peaceful negotiations in the Kazakh capital of Astana.

The Syrian peaceful process is likely to be rebooted during the talks in Astana, Dmitry Egorchenkov, an expert at the Institute for Strategic Studies, at the Moscow-based Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, told Sputnik. "The main goal of the Astana round of talks is to restart the peaceful process. Unfortunately, the Geneva talks failed. The initiative was positively assessed by UN. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura praised the ceasefire and attempts to launch a new round of talks," Egorchenkov told Radio Sputnik. According to him, the recently established ceasefire was the most important achievement in Syria in 2016. "The ceasefire regime is the main achievement of the year for Damascus. The threat that the Syrian legitimate government could be toppled by force was neutralized this year [in 2016], thanks to joint efforts by the government and its allies, including Russia," the expert pointed out. Egorchenkov also highlighted other important advances related to the Syrian settlement.

"Finally, we can see a clear distinction between the opposition and militants. This is what Russia long tried to achieve working with the United States. But Washington was not ready to do that. So, Moscow, Tehran and Ankara joined forced and did that," the expert said.

He underscored that the Syrian settlement has involved all interested party and, as a result, such players as, for example, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are now ready to negotiate. According to Egorchenkov, now all parties involved understand that there can be no military solution to the Syrian crisis. "I think that by the end of 2016, all global players realized that the conflict cannot be resolved by force. They see that the only option is to negotiate," he concluded.

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201701011049185518-syria-ceasefire-talks/