President Barack Obama's hope for a negotiated settlement in the Syrian civil war is fading as Russia's relentless military strikes shift the conflict in favor of President Bashar al-Assad.
The Washington Post reports that Russia's pounding of forces attempting to crush Assad's regime have been so effective it's unlikely it will be overthrown.
"Russia's strategy is to weaken the Syrian opposition to the point of elimination, so that in the future Russia may well be able to argue that there is no one to negotiate with," Lina Khatib of France's Arab Reform Initiative told the newspaper.
Russia's success has put peace talks, set to launch in Geneva next week, in doubt.
The Post reports Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attempt to smooth over differences at a meeting in Zurich on Wednesday.
But Jeff White, a military analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, is skeptical.
"Under the current military circumstances, there is no reason for the strong alliance to go and negotiate a win-win solution. The stronger alliance is going to go into the negotiations and dictate terms," White told The Post.
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