Putin plans to end Alawite hegemony in Damascus and evict pro-Iranian Shiite militias including Hizballah 1/29/2018 2:55:43 PM Vladimir Putin has drawn up this plan for the Sochi conference Jan 28, 2018 -  DEBKAfile reports that the Russian president has prepared a plan for Syria’s post-war future for presentation to the Syrian peace conference which begins on the same day at the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Moscow has taken into account 1,600 Syrian government and opposition participants. Some rebel groups have announced a boycott. DEBKAfile reports that the absentees are pro-Assad and pro-Iranian groups who are boycotting the event to reflect their masters’ objections to the Russian president’s plans. Unless he decides to back down at the last moment, those plans are substantially as follows:  Early democratic elections to the presidency and parliament, guaranteed by Moscow to be genuinely democratic with all parts of the population allowed for the f...

Syria talks focusing on planned 'congress' in Russia 12/22/2017 9:13:46 AM Since the start of Syrias war in 2011, numerous diplomatic attempts to halt the conflict have stumble AFP, DEC. 20, 2017 --The main powerbrokers in Syria's nearly seven-year conflict were heading towards a second day of negotiations in Astana as uncertainly loomed Thursday over a Moscow-driven plan to quickly reach a political settlement. Chief Russian negotiator Aleksandr Lavrentyev told journalists that Russia was forging ahead with plans to host a 'National Dialogue Congress' in the Black Sea resort of Sochi to accelerate discussions over a political deal that have sputtered in Geneva. The  United Nations  ' special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has refused to say if the UN will back a plan promoted by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but viewed warily by opponents of his government. Speaking after the first day of talks Thursday, Lavrentyev said...