Russian navy to hold drills off Syria as Idlib offensive looms

September 1st, 20180 MOSCOW — Russia will begin a major naval exercise in the Mediterranean on Saturday, the Ministry of Defense announced, a move the Kremlin said was justified by a failure to deal with militants in Syria’s Idlib province. Idlib and areas surrounding it are the last major enclave held by rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar...

Syrian opposition will work with Sochi proposal under U.N. guidance

February 2nd, 20180 ISTANBUL — Syria's opposition will cooperate with proposals made at a Russia-hosted conference this week to rewrite the country's constitution as long as the process remains under U.N. auspices, the chief opposition negotiator said on Thursday. Participants at Tuesday's meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in Russia - which is a...

U.N. to join Syria talks in Astana after deadlock in Geneva

December 22nd, 20170 ASTANA — U.N. special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday he would take part in the latest round of Syrian peace talks in the Kazakhstan capital Astana on Friday, with a month to go before he hopes to break the deadlock in political talks in Geneva. Delegations from the Syrian government and some opposition groups are...