Blood and Quicksand: Moscow and UN Vie for Syria Peace

Bottom Line: Multiple rounds of peace talks aimed at ending Syria’s seven-year civil war have failed to yield results or relieve a catastrophic humanitarian crisis throughout the country. While the Trump administration throws its support behind a United Nations-led process that aims to deliver a roadmap for peace, Russia has organized its own negotiating track that threatens to upend the U.N. effort. Nonetheless, until both the Syrian government and the opposition are willing to entertain difficult concessions, neither of these efforts will succeed.

Background: There have been eight rounds of U.N.-sponsored peace talks since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011. But bringing the warring factions to the negotiating table has proven extremely challenging.

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