Russia is ready to bring NE Administration closer to Damascus – Russian analyst

North-Press Agency

The Russian journalist and political analyst Andrei Ontkov said that the Russian government is ready to play a stronger role in bringing the Autonomous Administration of north-eastern Syria closer to the Syrian government, but serious and constructive positions should be made between the two sides. The political analyst stressed that Sochi Agreement is the only guarantor for not resuming the Turkish military operation in northern Syria, calling for full commitment to its terms.

In an exclusive statement to North-Press, Ontkov said that Russia "welcomes the dialogue between the Syrian government and the Autonomous Administration, but Russia has its own vision, as it builds its positions in terms of the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Syria," he said.

He stressed that Russia is ready to play a stronger role between the two parties, "but when North-Eastern Syria Administration submits rejected requests, it should reconsider its requests because the Russian vision is close to that of the Syrian government," and required serious and constructive positions on both sides for the success of the negotiations. He added: "The problem is that the Autonomous Administration believes that the United States will protect it, but this is not true, and it is clear that the U.S. has its own interests and it does not consider the Administration or the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as an ally, rather, a pawn in its hands," as he described.

Regarding the statements of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the full commitment to the implementation of the ceasefire, Ontkov commente: "Lavrov pointed to the entry of the United States again on the line, and that U.S. patrols will be conducted with the SDF, as this new rapprochement between them, negatively reflected on the implementation of Sochi Agreement."

The Russian journalist and political analyst Andrei Ontkov concluded by saying that Russia "does not want the military operation to be resumed. It believes that its repercussions will be very serious, but it's not fully responsible for what is happening on the ground. It needs full compliance with Sochi Agreement because it's the only guarantee that the Turkish military operations will stop," stressing that Russia “would persuade Turkey to do so regardless of some of the violations that take place on the ground," Ontkov added.