Aleppo ceasefire, prisoner swaps and Ghouta aid mulled
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| Kerry presenting Lavrov with the two Idaho potatoes |
U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with two
potatoes from Idaho before the beginning of their talks at
the U.S. ambassador's residence in Paris.
Kerry said he and
Lavrov had spoken to one another several weeks ago and planned to discuss
Syria. Then the Secretary of State produced two potatoes from a big cardboard
box and gave them to the Russian minister.
The
Russian delegation responded later with an ushanka hat, an iconic relic of the
Soviet era, complete with a red star, but colored cartoonish pink.
Kerry and Lavrov
discussed the possibility of ceasefires in parts of Syria, Kerry said after the
talks in Paris.
Lavrov said the two also
discussed a possible willingness by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to open
aid corridors.
"We talked today about the possibility of trying to encourage a
ceasefire. Maybe a localized ceasefire in Aleppo,"
Kerry told the news conference after the talks with Lavrov, which were joined
by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi a little later.
Lavrov said Damascus had
indicated it might provide access for humanitarian aid to besieged areas. According to
RT, he specifically cited the Damascus suburb of East Ghouta, where fighting
traps 160,000 people.
"We await similar steps by the opposition,"
Lavrov said.
The United States is
pushing for a series of confidence-building measures, including prisoner
exchanges, in the Syria war in advance of Geneva-2, a planned peace conference
in Switzerland on January 22.
Prisoner exchanges may
be a simpler goal to achieve. Armed opposition forces are preparing lists of
Syrian army soldiers and officials in their captivity, Kerry said. A similar
preparation is underway in Damascus.
Achieving a total
ceasefire would probably be unrealistic under the circumstances, but both the U.S.
and Russia are suggesting a localized ceasefire such as in Aleppo, which would
serve as a test for the readiness of both sides to curb violence.
Syria’s second largest
city Aleppo has been a scene of intensive fighting in the past few weeks.
A third important step
would be providing humanitarian access to Syrian regions most affected by the
violence, particularly the Damascus suburbs of Ghouta. Lavrov is negotiating
such a move with Damascus, Kerry said.
Another important issue
discussed by the three negotiators deals with Iran’s participation in the
conference. According to Brahimi, an invitation to the Swiss town of Montreux,
where the gathering is to take place, has been sent to Tehran.
“Iran’s participation
or otherwise is not a matter of ideology; it is a matter of common sense,”
the envoy said.
Kerry said the U.S.
supports Iran’s participation in the conference, but insists that Tehran
endorses the peace roadmap agreed at the June 2012 Syria peace conference in
Geneva.
“We hope that in the
end the UN Secretary General will invite everyone, who has an impact on the
real development of the situation,” Lavrov said.
