ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Moscow believes that any peace talks for the future of Syria must include that country’s Kurdish minority, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov on Wednesday. “We support the participation of a wide circle of opposition forces, which represent the Syrian people, in the Syrian negotiating process. The Kurds, certainly, must not be excluded from this process.” Meshkov was quoted by the Russian news agency RIA. The Saudi government recently initiated talks among various Syrian groups fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) was not invited, nor was the newly established Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Shortly after this snub by Riyadh the SDF formed its own political wing. The YPG has been the most effective ground force against ISIS in Syria and has enjoyed close US air support. Since the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey last month there have been reports of Russian military support to the YPG as well.
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