海角大神

Leaders of Russia, Turkey, and Iran held talks in Moscow on Tuesday in the first step toward brokering a peace deal in Syria, emerging with a declaration of principles that they said should听govern any agreement backed by the three countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said afterward that the trio鈥檚 plans for a Syria-wide ceasefire 鈥� excluding the self-proclaimed Islamic State and al-Qaeda鈥檚 Syrian branch 鈥� stood听a better chance than previous negotiations.

"The format you see today is the most efficient one," Mr. Lavrov said, according to the Associated Press, referring to the group of countries involved in the talks. "It's not an attempt to cast a shadow on the efforts taken by our other partners, it's just stating the facts."

The United States downplayed its absence from the talks, with State Department spokesman John Kirby telling the AP, 鈥淲e are not excluded, we are not being sidelined鈥� from the peace process.

But the meeting seemed to mark a significant shift in the countries brokering the Syrian conflict, seating Russia in firmer command and sounding out the depth of the Obama White House鈥檚 reluctance to more aggressively engage.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who called the agreement the "Moscow Declaration," said that only Russia鈥檚 backing had been able to make a real difference in the conflict.

"All previous attempts by the United States and its partners to agree on coordinated actions were doomed to failure," Mr. Shoigu said, according to Reuters. "None of them wielded real influence over the situation on the ground."

Mr. Lavrov pointed to an ongoing evacuation of civilians and rebels from Aleppo, brokered by Russia and Turkey, as proof of the alliance鈥檚 effectiveness, reported the AP.

"More than any others, our states are ready to help the settlement with real deeds and not just words," he said.

The talks come a little over a week after the Syrian city of Aleppo fell to the Russia- and Iran-backed government of Bashar al-Assad, in what 海角大神鈥檚 Scott Peterson described as a 鈥渞etooling of power dynamics in the Middle East,鈥� as Iran builds resistance against the US, Israel, and their allies, and Russia tries to restore influence over the region:

鈥淭his is what really matters to Iran and Russia, that the political, geo-strategic project of the anti-Assad and anti-Iranian position has failed, and it has been buried in the Aleppo rubble,鈥� says Fawaz Gerges, a Middle East expert at the London School of Economics and author of 鈥淚SIS: A History.鈥�

鈥淪yria really could be a signpost for the emergence of a new international system,鈥� says Mr. Gerges. President Obama made a decision 鈥渘ot to involve, not to entangle, not to invest major political and military capital鈥� in the Middle East.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not the lack of capability, it鈥檚 the lack of will,鈥� says Gerges, noting frequent administration statements about ending US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and no desire to start new ones. 鈥淚n contrast, [Russian President Vladimir]听Putin has made a strategic investment, and so far the returns are excellent.鈥�

The three brokers are not without their differences: Turkey, unlike Russia and Iran, has long said that Dr. Assad should step down, for example. On Tuesday, Turkey鈥檚 foreign minister said that the need for all parties to stop sponsoring 鈥渢errorists鈥� should apply to Hezbollah, a close ally of both Iran and the Syrian government. But the Moscow meeting may suggest that Turkey could back off its support for Syrian rebels in exchange for a longer leash in fighting Kurds in territory they hold near the border 鈥� a priority for Turkey鈥檚 government.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin, told the AP that the assassination of ambassador Andrei Karlov in Turkey on Monday was a vain attempt to 鈥渄rive a wedge between Russia and Turkey,鈥� adding that the two countries would cooperate even closer.

This article contains material from the Associated Press and Reuters.