DAMASCUS, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- When several rounds of Syrian talks in Geneva failed to achieve any concrete steps to end the country's seven-year-long war, Russia hosted the Syrian talks in Sochi to give a nudge to the faltering Geneva talks, analysts said.
Ahead of the Sochi talks, which were held on Jan. 29-30, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi is not an isolated event and is aimed at supporting the UN-sponsored intra-Syrian talks in Geneva.
Geneva is a broad platform for Syrian talks where the Western powers, mainly the United States, have an influence and a sway translated in the presence of Western-backed opposition groups such as the Turkey-based Syrian National Council (SNC) and its allies of the Saudi-based the Higher Negotiation Committee.
Such opposition groups have taken the lion share of representation in the Geneva talks, while other opposition groups, mainly the home-based ones have been largely marginalized.
The big crack between the oppositions and the limited representation in Geneva have overshadowed the previous talks in the Swiss capital, prompting Russia to demand a unified opposition delegation to the Geneva talks.
Still, the Western-backed opposition remained the most influential among other opposition groups, renewing their calls for the departure of President Bashar al-Assad as a prelude to any political settlement in Syria.
The Syrian government has repeatedly rejected the opposition demands, branding them as preconditions that are rejected ahead of any talks. The government delegation repeatedly called for prioritizing counter-terrorism.
The eight round of Geneva talks ended late last year, with the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, calling it a "missed opportunity."
But that round wasn't expected to bring about any real solution, with the preconditions of the Western-backed opposition and the Syrian government rejection to touch upon the presidency of Assad.
The talks there have stalemated and were followed by another round of talks, this time in Vienna, which was held a few days ahead of the Sochi congress.
However, the Vienna talks weren't better than the last round in Geneva. On the contrary, it proved that the Western powers were pressing to have their vision of solution applied to the political process to Syria's war.
The United States and its Western allies put forward an "unofficial document," which laid forward the Western vision of a new Syrian constitution and a de-centralized rule in Syria, including stripping the presidency of major powers.
The Syrian government completely rejected the document, accusing the United States of derailing the Syrian political process.
This loop of dead ends has pushed Russia to attempt to push the Geneva talks by holding the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, which attempted to overcome the problems of Geneva.
First of all, Russia worked to broaden the representations in Sochi, inviting 1,600 Syrians to take part in the conference, the highest number to take part in Syrian talks. However, the SNC boycotted the meeting.
The conference ended with a final statement that agreed on the formation of a constitutional committee that includes 150 people from the opposition and the government to discuss amendments or additions of the current Syrian constitution, not forming a new one.
The final statement also stressed on the unity of the Syrian territories and hasn't touched upon the presidency of Assad.
In a statement following the conclusion of the Sochi Congress on Tuesday, de Mistura, the UN envoy, thanked the forum for its contribution to the Geneva talks.
De Mistura emphasized that the achievement at Sochi is a contribution to the UN-led Geneva process for Syria.
He said the constitutional committee will become a reality in Geneva, not elsewhere.
"The UN-led Geneva process will agree on the proposals the special envoy will make on the mandate, terms of reference, powers, rules of procedure and selection criteria for the composition of the constitutional committee in Geneva," said the UN envoy.
Maher Ihsan, a Syrian political expert, told Xinhua that Russian efforts in Sochi aimed at creating a base to be relied on in upcoming rounds in Geneva.
"I think the Russians are working to create a base to be relied on in other conferences such as Geneva regardless of the details and the logistic measures such as the boycott of the Saudi-backed opposition," Ihsan said.
"I think Russia wanted the conference to come up with something positive and the committee that was formed during the conference can be built on in Geneva and we have seen that opposition figures were also included in the committee," Ihsan said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that the Sochi conference generally succeeded as a first step in the political settlement of Syria's crisis.
