The Russians are on the offensive; the Americans are playing the role of the listener, and sometimes the arbiter; and the French are playing the role of the Syrian opposition’s defender. Thus seemed Monday’s (May 27) meeting that grouped the foreign ministers of Russia, Sergey Lavrov; the U.S., John Kerry; and France, Laurent Fabius.

The tripartite discussions focused on the preliminary points of the Geneva II Conference: the participation of Iran, the composition of the opposition’s delegation and the proposed date. It seemed that the resistance facing the Russians’ insistence on holding the conference comes from the French, not the Americans.

It seems that the Russian-American understanding is an American attempt to give the Russians an opportunity to test their solutions in Syria, while betting that they will fail, which will then allow the Americans to regain the initiative. Iran’s participation is one of the contentious issues raised during the dinner that grouped the French, Russian and U.S. ministers.

A source said that the Americans did not object to Russia’s proposal that Tehran be allowed into the International Working Group on Syria and to give Tehran a seat in Geneva, something that the French strongly oppose because they consider the Iranians to be part of the problem and so cannot be part of the solution. The French also feel that giving Iran a seat at the Geneva conference will complicate the Iranian nuclear negotiations.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L), French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (C) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pose before a meeting in Paris, May 27, 2013. PHOTO: AFP

The French debated the formation of the opposition’s delegation. The French want the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces to be the main reference in forming the delegation, something that the Russians reject. The Americans adopted a position close to the Russians by proposing that the opposition’s delegation be shared among the National Coalition, its affiliates such as Michel Kilo and Moaz al-Khatib, the National Coordinating Committee for Democratic Change in Syria and Building the Syrian State Movement. The latter two represent the internal opposition. The Americans refused a Russian proposal to impose oppositionists Qadri Jamil and Ali Haidar.

A French diplomatic source said that Paris supported the representation of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Geneva because the military has a clear and indisputable “legitimacy” to represent the Syrian opposition. The French have strongly pushed toward adding the FSA’s “chief-of-staff,” Salim Idris, to the potential Geneva delegation.

There was a disagreement on how to transfer powers to the executive body. The Russians were not convinced that the executive body should have full powers that include security and military matters. The Russians consider that security and army matters are presidential powers and that this issue should be dealt with when we reach the stage of solving major contentious issues, such as determining the fate of the president, who is the army’s commander-in-chief. For the Russians, those contentious issues will be decided in a new Syrian constitution in the transitional phase, not during the phase of building an interim government.

According to the diplomatic source, the French and the Americans insist on transferring the full executive powers to the executive body, including control over the army and the security forces, because that would be a confidence-building measure that would help normalize the situation and lead to the return of the army to its barracks.

The Russians sought to determine the agenda of the Geneva II Conference. The Russians want to not only set up a transitional government, but also discuss Syria’s political future and its international obligations, which would in effect be a constitutional cover for Russia and the U.S. to share influence in Syria and determine Syria’s future. The Russians also want the conference to consider reconstruction projects.

A French diplomatic source said the cease-fire issue had been raised to see whether it was possible to impose it before the negotiations start. The source said that France does not support negotiations under fire. The source said that it was impossible to achieve fruitful negotiations while Syria is fighting battles such as the one in Qusair.

The conference date has not yet been set, but Western and French diplomatic sources in Geneva and Paris confirm that the U.S. and Russia are pushing to start the conference before Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama meet at the G-8 Summit in Ireland on June 17.

Diplomatic sources in Geneva said that the conference could start on June 15 or 16, but added that there is no agreement yet on how the conference will be organized.

The French diplomatic source said that the conference should be held before that date to allow for the early identification of the obstacles and problems that face the negotiations in order to resolve those problems during the meeting between the American and Russian presidents, as well as to encourage the Syrians to make quick progress once they are at the negotiating table.

The hours that followed the Paris meeting have witnessed a traditional escalation because the conference’s date is approaching. The Parisian meeting coincided with the European Union’s decision to lift the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition, while deferring the decision to arm it till August. Moscow considered that move an attempt to undermine the Geneva conference efforts.

Regarding the Human Rights Council’s Geneva meeting, the Turks, the Qataris and the Americans called for a hearing to discuss a resolution condemning the involvement in Qusair, without naming Hizbullah. The Russians considered that move an attempt to undermine the Geneva conference. Lavrov called the move “unfair” and considered it a counterattack on the Geneva conference. According to the Russians, the Human Rights Council has nothing to do with the events on the Syrian military fronts.

The Russians expressed their anger at the American and European contradictory tracts: one works toward holding the conference,  while the other tries to sabotage it. Lavrov said that “the West, including France and the United States, should make up its mind on whether it wants to hold the Geneva conference? And if so, we must refrain from acts that, in effect, sabotage the idea. If we continue to work like this, we should not talk about the conference…We need clarity. The Syrian government has announced that it will participate in the conference. The regime’s opponents should declare their position with the same clarity.”

A diplomatic source in Paris accused the Westerners of disrespecting the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition. The source said that in recent months the Libyans bought weapons from three European countries, namely Italy, Spain and France, and handed over those weapons to the Syrian opposition, via Turkey.

— Published in Assafir in Arabic, translated to English by Al-Montor.