Middle East; Arab League rejects Trump′s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan

The Arab League has rejected a Middle East peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump. It said the plan would not lead to a just deal for both sides.

Read more at;
https://www.dw.com/en/arab-league-rejects-trumps-israeli-palestinian-peace-plan/a-52225651

Middle East: EU must counter Kushner's so-called 'peace' plan considered a scam- by Wadih Al-Asmar

The Donald Trump administration is set to unveil its long-awaited "peace plan" for the Middle East later this year.

This so-called "Deal of the Century" is likely to be no more than a big sham, and the US-led 25 and 26 June economic peace workshop in Bahrain will hardly change this perception.

As Federica Mogherini confirmed on Monday, the EU is participating: it's time for the EU to make its voice heard.

Despite the countless delays and ambiguities as to what its 'peace plan' may entail, the US administration has made no effort to hide what's in store.

The US-launched "economic peace" workshop conference in Bahrain is a new step in a series of unilateral measures to pressure the Palestinian Authority, undermine Palestinian refugee rights and rule out the international status of Jerusalem.

In Bahrain, the EU should reject anything departing from international law principles and any attempt to diminish Palestinian self-determination and fundamental rights.

EU must counter Kushner's so-called 'peace' plan

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Syria: Russia’s peace efforts acquire gravitas - by M.K. Bhadrakumar

The sudden visit by the US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with King Salman at his ranch outside Riyadh can be seen as a swift follow-up on the phone conversation he held with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov the previous day.

Lavrov had initiated the phone call to Kerry, which followed their meeting in Vienna on Friday together with their Turkish and Saudi counterparts. Lavorv also held telephonic conversations on Saturday with his Iranian and Egyptian counterparts.

Evidently, Lavrov and Kerry are engaged in what increasingly seems a combined mutually reinforcing effort to flesh out a peace plan that finds acceptance with the external players who are aligned with them while also not entirely in sync with them as well as with the Syrian parties concerned. The brainpower could be Lavrov’s, but Moscow’s priority is to work with Washington to the extent the latter is willing – the common ground is steadily expanding – rather than indulge in one-upmanship.

In bits and pieces, the contours of a peace plan could be emerging out of these hectic consultations. Consider the following statements made by President Vladimir Putin last Thursday in Sochi (on the eve of the meeting between Lavrov and Kerry in Vienna):

• I am sure that the Russian military operations [in Syria] will have the necessary positive effect on the situation, helping Syrian authorities to create the conditions for subsequent actions in reaching a political settlement.
• Here is what we believe we must do to support long-term settlement… First of all, free Syria and Iraq’s territories from terrorists… And to do that, we must join all forces – the Iraqi ad Syrian armies, Kurdish militia, various opposition groups that have actually made a real contribution to fighting terrorists – and coordinate the actions of countries within and outside of the region against terrorism.
• Second, a military victory over the militants alone will… create conditions for the main thing, namely, the beginning of a political process with the participation of all healthy patriotic forces of the Syrian society… The collapse of Syrian government will only mobilize the terrorists. Right now, instead of undermining the Syrian authorities, we must strengthen them, revive them, by strengthening state institutions in the conflict zone.
• Of course, the Syrian leadership must establish working contacts with those opposition forces, which are ready for dialogue. As far as I understood from the meeting with President Assad [on Tuesday]…, he is ready for such dialogue”.

Putin was speaking in Sochi at the annual conference of the Valdai Club, an elite forum associated with the Kremlin, but in reality he was addressing President Barack Obama, making an impassioned appeal for Russian-American cooperation and coordination over the Syrian crisis.

From the shift of the tectonic plates since then, it appears Obama is veering round to favoring US-Russian coordination at the diplomatic level in tackling the Syrian problem.

Read more: Syria: Russia’s peace efforts acquire gravitas | Asia Times

Middle East: Syria's Assad offers peace plan but stands firm - by Ned Parker and Nabih Bulos

Syrian President Bashar Assad  in a rare public appearance presented a plan for ending the country’s  deadly civil war, but called his opponents  “terrorists” and made clear he had no intention to leave office, presenting himself as his people’s protector.
 
His dismissive attitude toward critics, and his dangling of limited concessions, offered little hope for a diplomatic breakthrough to end the 21-month-old civil war.

Assad cast himself as a leader saddened by his country’s strife and ready to find a way to end the conflict, but  only on his terms.  In his roughly hour-long speech at the national opera house in central Damascus, Assad sketched out a plan for peace.

In phase one,  Assad called for a freeze to the fighting and an end to foreign aid to anti-government forces. If those conditions were met, Assad said he would order his forces to halt military operations and convene a national dialogue conference. Then, under a transitional government, the draft of a new constitution would be put to a national referendum. In a final phase, a new government would be formed and prisoners released.

Assad offered little detail but presented himself as the one who would guide Syria back to stability. 

Read more: Syria's Assad offers peace plan but stands firm - latimes.com

United Nations: Syria not complying with peace plan, says Ban Ki-moon

There is little evidence that Syria's government is complying with a peace plan to try to end violence, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said.

After briefing the Security Council, he warned there was an "imminent" danger of civil war in Syria and it could go from tipping point to breaking point.

But he stressed that the peace plan by UN envoy Kofi Annan remained "at the centre of our focus".

Read more: BBC News - Syria not complying with peace plan, says Ban Ki-moon