Also reflecting events on the ground, Syria’s opposition was represented by fighters, not by the politicians in exile who led the previous talks. In the past Russia would have dismissed some of the delegates as jihadists, fit only for thermobaric bombing. But, perhaps under Turkey’s nudging, it now sees the benefits of engagement if the process is to get anywhere. Muhammad Alloush, who heads an Islamist armed group, Jaish al-Islam, showed his appreciation by praising Russia, which only a month ago was crushing rebels in Aleppo, for its “neutrality”. To mollify the politicians in exile, the fighters insisted they were there to talk only about ceasefires. But the Russians also proffered a draft constitution, and issued invitations for follow-up talks in Moscow, set for January 27th. The exiles would prefer to rely on America to promote the political process in a fresh round of talks in Geneva, pencilled in for February 8th. By then, however, Russia may already have written the terms.
当然这也在引起了一系列事件,叙利亚的叛军主要是由军方控制而不是之前在和谈中被流放的政治家们。在过去,俄罗斯使用温压炸弹,可能已经击退了伊斯兰圣战者。但是,也许是在土耳其的助力下,如果这样的措施任意实行,其中的利益得失是显而易见的。Jaish al-Islam,一只伊斯兰的武装军队,它的首领Muhammad Alloush对俄方充满了感激之情,——俄方在一个月之前在阿勒颇粉碎了反叛者,以示其“中立”的立场。为了安抚被放逐的政治家,这些参战者坚持称他们仅仅是为了停止战火才会那样做的。然而俄罗斯依然提出起草宪法法案并发行了将要于1月27日在莫斯科做后续会谈的邀请函。流放的政治家们更愿意在2月8日的日内瓦进行新一轮会谈时依靠美国来促进政治进程。然而,到那时,俄罗斯或许已经签订了条款。