MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax) - The United States noticed the effectiveness of the Astana process in 2017 and was scared that the parties to the Syrian conflict might really reach an agreement at that negotiation platform, Alexei Chepa, deputy chairman of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, told Interfax on Monday.
The U.S. is scared that the result might not be the one it wants, Chepa said, commenting on a Department of State official's remark that the Astana negotiations have failed.
"The Astana process did not go the way they [the United States] wanted over the past year. For that reason, we saw attempts at the division, the dismemberment of Syria at the end of the year. We saw certain activity of the remainders of terrorist groups after the partial withdrawal of the Russian group and after Russia's statement that the terrorist groups were mostly defeated. Trump immediately announced that the defeat of the terrorists in Syria and Iraq was the indisputable victory of America. All these things show that they are afraid of the Astana process," Chepa said.
This also clarifies the situation in Eastern Ghouta, where many terrorist groups are concentrated; "it is clear who enabled their concentration," he said, adding that there are possibilities for finding out who supplies weapons to them.
"The American statements show a clear interest in preventing the Astana negotiations from continuing, because 2017 showed what the result might be if all the parties sit down at the negotiating table," the parliamentarian said.