Middle East
Russian President’s Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev speaking to journalists on January 25, 2024. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurds in Syria should engage with the government in Damascus in anticipation of a United States withdrawal from the country, Russia’s special presidential envoy for Syria told Rudaw on Thursday.
“The Kurdish Autonomous Administration must understand that sooner or later US troops will leave Syria and they will have to resolve their problems with the central government themselves,” Alexander Lavrentiev told Rudaw’s Kamiz Shadadi in Kazakhstan following Astana meetings with Syria, Turkey, and Iran.
Lavrentiev mentioned Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s call for a withdrawal of coalition forces and said that an American exit from Iraq will necessitate the same across the border in Syria.
“When US forces are no longer in Iraq, as you understand, we can no longer talk about US forces staying east of the Euphrates,” he said.
Lavrentiev recalled when former US President Donald Trump proposed withdrawing troops from Syria, Kurdish forces approached Damascus “the next day” and “actively engaged in discussions” with the Syrian government and Moscow’s representatives. After Trump decided to keep US troops in the country, “the Kurdish attitude immediately changed and they gave up all the responsibilities they had assumed,” said the Russian envoy.
As civil war broke out in Syria, Kurds carved out an area of control in the northeast, establishing their own armed forces and administration, and partnering with the US to fight the Islamic State (ISIS). They have largely avoided direct conflict with the Syrian regime but efforts to reach an understanding with Damascus that would allow the Kurds to maintain some level of autonomy have failed.
After their meeting in Astana, Russia, Turkey, and Iran issued a joint statement rejecting “all attempts to create new realities on the ground, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives under the pretext of combating terrorism,” referring to the Kurdish administration in Rojava.
They also “reaffirmed their determination to confront separatist agendas that aim to undermine the unity of Syria and threaten the national security of neighboring countries, including through cross-border attacks and infiltration also from the west of the Euphrates.”
The 21st meeting of the Astana format began on Wednesday in the Kazakh capital. Representatives of Syria, along with Russia, Turkey, and Iran as guarantor countries, as well as the United Nations gathered to discuss the spillover of Israel’s war in Gaza into Syria and its effects.
Their next meeting is set to be held in Astana in the second half of 2024.
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