Can the US and Russia sculpt a ceasefire in Syria?

For some time now, the United States and Russia have been trying to work together to help end the impasse in Syria.

Yet they’ve so far had limited success – if any.

But after meeting for the second time this month, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov say they are close to doing some kind of deal.

What’s unfortunately not clear at this stage is if it will actually benefit the Syrian people.

Russia and the US say they want to establish better intelligence sharing, particularly to coordinate strikes against armed groups including al-Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda. 

The hope is to potentially stop Syrian government forces from targeting the so-called moderate rebel groups.

But what will this mean for any possible political settlement in Syria?

Presenter: Kamahl Santamaria

Guests:

Oubai Shahbandar – Senior Strategic Communications Adviser, Qorvis MSL Group

Fawaz Gerges – Chair of Contemporary Middle East Studies at the London School of Economics.

Thanassis Cambanis – Fellow at the Think Tank Century Foundation.