North and East Syria officials deny holding any joint meetings with Damascus recently

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA – In an interview with spokesperson for the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA) of North and East Syria Lukman Ahmi, he denied holding any joint meetings between the DAA and the Syrian government at the present time.

Likewise, member of the Presidential Authority of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) Hikmat Habib confirmed there are currently no talks between the DAA or SDC and Damascus. However, Habib said the SDC was always open for dialogue “with any Syrian party that would contribute to a political solution to the Syrian crisis”.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced at a press conference on Tuesday that, “Moscow supports the ongoing dialogue between the Kurds and Damascus on the future arrangements of their joint homeland.”

Several sources confirmed that Russia asked the DAA, which consists of Arabs, Kurds and Chaldeans-Syriacs-Assyrians, to represent only the Kurds in negotiations with Damascus. The DAA, however, rejected the Russian proposal, describing it as a narrow approach.

Two meetings had been held between representatives of the peoples of the DAA and the Syrian government, but the joint meetings have not taken place since Autumn 2019.