U.N. Envoy: Russia Must Convince Assad to Clinch Peace Deal

The United Nations’ special envoy to Syria called on Russia on Wednesday to push its Syrian allies into accepting a U.N.-sponsored settlement to end the conflict, Reuters reported.

“Convince the (Syrian) government that there is no time to lose … You can think you win territory militarily but you have to win the peace,” Staffan de Mistura told Swiss television station RTS, when asked what signal Russian president Vladimir Putin could give from his “position of force.”

“And to win the peace, you have to have the courage to push the government to accept that there has to be a new constitution and new elections, through the United Nations,” he said.

De Mistura’s comments come days before the eighth round of peace talks in Geneva, between the government and the opposition, are expected to close.

An unidentified “senior Western diplomat” told Reuters that Syrian government negotiators failed to engage with the U.N. envoy on elections and a new constitution during the latest round of negotiations, due to end on Thursday.

“Clearly they did not have any intention to engage in this political process. And clearly they are not under sufficient pressure to do so,” the diplomat told Reuters. “The clear impression is the regime wants to avoid the U.N.-led political process at any cost.”

Russia Reportedly Kicks Off Partial Military Pullout From Syria

Some of Moscow’s military contingent in Syria purportedly returned to Russia on Tuesday, marking the start of the Kremlin’s partial military pullout from the war-torn country, Agence France-Presse reported.

President Putin ordered a partial pullout of Russian forces from Syria on Monday, saying that conditions have been created for the end of nearly seven years of conflict.

Russian state TV aired footage on Tuesday of servicemen returning home, according to AFP. A Russian military statement said that a battalion of military police, crews of Tu-22M3 bombers and the crew of an A-50 surveillance aircraft have flown back to Russia, AFP said.

General Sergei Surovikin, the Russian commander in Syria, said this week that Moscow will pull out a total of 23 warplanes, two helicopter gunships, special forces units, military police and field engineers in the months to come.

On Tuesday the U.S. disputed Russian claims that the partial military withdrawal has started.

Pentagon spokesperson Marine Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said Washington had “not observed any significant withdrawal since Putin’s announcement,” Reuters reported.

Coalition Airstrikes Kill 23 Civilians

At least 23 civilians were killed on Wednesday in airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition on a village in eastern Syria held by the so-called Islamic State, AFP reported, citing a war monitor.

At least eight children and six women were among those killed in strikes that targeted a village on the eastern banks of the Euphrates river in Deir Ezzor province, AFP said, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group.

SOHR claimed that all of the victims were part of the same extended family. They were reportedly hiding inside a house at the time of the attack.

The coalition did not confirm the attack.

The strikes come as U.S.-backed forces battle militants on the eastern banks of the river.

On Wednesday a spokesperson for the coalition said that U.S.-backed fighters cleared 4 miles (6km) of territory along the eastern bank from militants during the “past day,” according to AFP.

Recommended Reads:

• Foreign Affairs: Putin’s Plan for Syria
• NBC News: Putin’s Syria Victory Lap Is Premature, Experts Say
• Al Jazeera: Syrian ‘Victory’ Kickstarts Putin’s Election Campaign
• Voice of America: Western, Gulf Weapons Supplied to Syria Rebels Leaked to Islamic State
• Al Jazeera: Syria: Post-War Reconstruction Booming in Jarablus