At Istanbul Summit, Russia Seeks Role as Mediator of Syria War by Sune Engel Rasmussen – Wall Street Journal
Russia is expected to use a four-nation summit in Istanbul Saturday to try to cement its new role as a Middle East power broker and attract European funding for rebuilding Syria after its war ends.
It is the first time that Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are to meet to discuss Syria, bringing together four leaders with interests in ending the war and resolving the refugee crisis it sparked.
The summit will likely yield discussions about preconditions for resurrecting an international peace process and distributing humanitarian aid, and the tenuous cease-fire in the northern province of Idlib, brokered by Russia and Turkey.
The meeting caps months of Russian initiatives to portray a measure of stability in Syria after its 2015 intervention helped turn the war in President Bashar al-Assad’s favor.
Now, Mr. Putin appears to favor a political settlement over prolonged, bloody warfare…
At Syria Summit, Leaders Produce Few Answers to the Endgame Question by Louisa Loveluck – Washington Post
The leaders of Russia, Turkey, France and Germany met in Istanbul Saturday to seek an end to Syria’s long war, a process over which Moscow wields considerable influence.
But while each country stressed its commitment to ending the seven-year conflict, the summit appeared to produce few concrete results — underscoring the challenges of reaching a formula for peace amid rival factions, extremist groups and Western reluctance to re-engage with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
At a closing news conference, participants reiterated years-long calls for a political, not military, solution.
Describing the discussions as “fruitful and sincere,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said all four participants agreed to support a United Nations-backed push to form a new constitutional committee for Syria by year’s end…