Does Russia's plan for "de-escalation zones" in Syria have any chance to be implemented?

Tabnak – As the new round of Syria peace talks in Astana enters its second day, the issue of establishing the so-called "de-escalations zones” in the country has become the focal point of discussion for the international media as well as political circles.

In one of its latest reports of the Astana talks, Aljazeera reported Thursday afternoon that Russia, Iran and Turkey have agreed to create de-escalation zones in war-torn Syria during talks in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, between the government and the opposition.

It was just yesterday that it was reported that Russia was circulating a draft proposal to Syrian rebel groups and diplomats that envisions pausing the war in Syria through the creation of safe "de-escalation zones,” with outside troops acting as buffers between the antagonists.

According to the New York Times, the proposal was "one of the most detailed suggestions to emerge in recent months in the rocky negotiations to halt the war, now in its seventh year.” The proposal would apply to Syrian government and rebel forces in the four main areas of the country where non-ISIS forces still hold significant territory.

Hours later, Russia’s envoy at the talks Alexander Lavrentiev confirmed the existence of such a proposal. "We believe that [the creation of de-escalation zones in Syria] can really help to move along the long-standing problem of separating the moderate Syrian opposition from terrorist organizations, primarily the ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra and will help significantly reduce the level of armed confrontation between the Syrian armed opposition and government forces,” Lavrentiev said.

The Russian plan, according to Lavrentiev, is to single out four hotspots in which the most intense fighting between government forces, the moderate opposition and extremist groups are taking place.

"We decided to go this way to create such zones in which the fight against terrorist organizations will be directly taken up by the moderate opposition themselves with the support of the guarantor countries," he said.

Meanwhile it should be noted that the Syrian government supports a Russian proposal to create four de-escalation zones, Syrian state media reported the foreign ministry as having said on Wednesday.

"The Syrian Arab Republic supports the Russian initiative on de-escalation zones and confirms its commitment to the cessation of hostilities regime signed Dec. 30, 2016, which includes not bombing these regions," said state news agency SANA, reporting a foreign ministry statement.

However, Ahmed Ramadan, an opposition representative, told The Associated Press that before supporting the document, rebels requested a written answer on a number of questions, including why the cease-fire would only be in effect in the four areas instead of a nationwide truce.

Ramadan also urged that the sides respect an earlier cease-fire deal which was reached in December and which also included provisions for the release of detainees. He clarified that the rebel side, though it suspended its participation in the talks, would wait in Astana for a reply.

The latest round of talks in Astana is sponsored by opposition supporter Turkey and Syrian government backers Russia and Iran. These negotiations are viewed as complementary to broader United Nations-brokered talks in Geneva on a political settlement, but neither have yielded real progress so far.