Leaders from Russia, Turkey and Iran will meet on Wednesday to plan the future of Syria and how to end the bloody civil war that has dragged on for seven years. But the U.S. and other Western countries are conspicuously absent from the meeting.

The talks, which will take place in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, will center on the drafting of a new constitution for Syria and how to secure zones for “de-escalation,” according to Turkish officials.

All three countries have major stakes in the ongoing war and the future of Syria. Cooperation between them increases the chances that the violence that has killed around 500,000 people could slow down, but consensus between the three regional superpowers also works to highlight how irrelevant U.S. policy toward the region has become, experts said.

“President [Donald] Trump continues to shift his position related to U.S. involvement in Syria, changing from claims that he intends to deploy troops indefinitely to wanting to get out soon," Harrison Akins, a regional security expert at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, told Newsweek. "To these nations, especially Iran and Turkey, who have direct political interests in the conflict, it would be unclear to them what value the United States would have in any talks given the unreliability of any U.S. position under the Trump administration.”

Currently, the Pentagon has announced that it plans to send more U.S. troops to Syria, while Trump says the U.S. should withdraw from the country altogether.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (from left) pose during a trilateral meeting on Syria in Sochi, Russia, on November 22, 2017. Their countries have major stakes in the ongoing war in and the future of Syria.MIKHAIL METZEL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

It is unclear, however, exactly how the three countries will find middle ground on Syria's future, since Russia and Iran continue to back Syria’s brutal leader Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey still argues that Assad lacks legitimacy. Meanwhile, all three countries have proxy forces in Syria that sometimes clash with one another or undermine the interests of others. Turkey recently launched a strong offensive against Kurdish forces in Afrin, in northern Syria, a group that is backed by Russia’s allies in Damascus. And Syria’s army, together with militias backed by Iran, recentlypummeled a Damascus suburb allegedly controlled by rebel groups. Turkey has sharply criticized this offensive.

Rather than trying to reach a political agreement, however, some regional experts said the meeting will focus on how to divide up the economic opportunities that will arise from the country’s eventual reconstruction.

“It’s a way for them to divide the spoils, and it’s mostly about allocation for military and civilian contracts for reconstruction, Benjamin Radd, a Middle East expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Newsweek.

“Certain segments of Syria’s government have promised conflicting things to Russia and Iran, and now they have to resolve their differences. Each one has invested a lot, and Turkey wants a piece of that pie. So it’s not just a political sphere of influence. They are strange bedfellows, but it’s about economic opportunities,” Radd continued.

It’s unclear how much the reconstruction contracts will be worth. But Russia, Iran and Turkey will likely foot the bill for reconstruction to ensure the Syrian regime is indebted to them. Then any international aid Syria receives for reconstruction will go to repaying Russian, Iranian or Turkish contractors, Radd explained.

“The constitutional element [of the meeting] is laughable. You can’t have a constitution written by 10 percent of the country that applies to all of it,” Radd added.

Still, even if the meeting focuses solely on economics, some said it could ultimately exacerbate political and religious tensions in Syria.

“When Russia and Iran are driving the show, it’s hard to see how anything good comes out of it. This is especially true when it comes to Syria’s aggrieved Sunni populations,” Chris Meserole, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution, toldNewsweek. “Without the U.S. at the table, any deal brokered by Moscow and Tehran risks compounding the political tensions that gave rise to Sunni rebel groups in the first place.”

Russia has also hosted ongoing peace talks for Syria that sidelined the U.S. A meeting in January, however, ended disastrously when angry attendees heckled the Kremlin spokesman, delegates bickered over who would run the event and a group of Syrian opposition leaders boycotted the meeting by refusing to leave the airport after landing.

(newsweek)

Days after President Donald Trump’s promise to withdraw troops from Syria "very soon," the U.S.-led coalition vowed Tuesday to continue its mission in Syria after fresh casualties and threats from a partner nation.

The coalition declined to speculate on how the commander-in-chief's comments could affect its presence in Syria, but it said it remained committed to defeating the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) even as fellow NATO Western military alliance member Turkey threatened to storm the northern Syrian town of Manbij, where U.S. Special Forces operate and one was recently killed. Regional reports and photographs also suggested U.S. and allied reinforcements were headed to Manbij.​

"Coalition presence in Manbij will ultimately be determined through political dialogue. Coalition forces are establishing a joint coordination mechanism for operations there," the coalition said in a statement sent to Newsweek.

"While we do not comment on specifics for operational security, Turkey is a member of the Coalition, and our operations are planned and conducted in conjunction and consultation with all partner nations and organizations," it added. "The Coalition is focused on ensuring the lasting defeat of Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group] in Iraq and Syria."

The diverse city of Manbij was seized by local rebels in July 2012, about a year after an uprising threatening the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turned into civil war. Amid tensions between Syrian Arabs and Kurds, ISIS overtook Manbij in early 2014. In August 2016, a mostly Kurdish, U.S.-backed group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces took control of the city, catching Turkey’s ire.

Turkey, a U.S. ally, considers many of these Kurdish militias, including the People's Protection Units, to be linked to the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey and has targeted them despite their U.S. support. Ankara has also taken in the once-CIA backed majority-Arab Free Syrian Army and assisted them in clashes with Kurdish fighters in the region.

As ISIS lost land across northern Syria, both Russian and U.S troops set up positions in Manbij in March 2017, blocking a potential Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army attack. Turkey renewed and intensified its northern Syrian offensive in January, taking the northwestern Kurdish enclave of Afrin last month and once again setting its sights on Manbij. Turkey and the U.S. have offered conflicting statements on whether the two allied nations have reached a deal on the fate of Manbij.

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.@CJTFOIR mourns the loss of @Coalition warriors MSGT Jonathan Dunbar and SGT Matt Tonroe, killed near #Manbij, Syria, 29 March. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends, and fellow troopers. Rest easy.

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U.S. Special Operations Master Sergeant Jonathan Dunbar and U.K. Sergeant Matt Tonroe were killed Thursday outside of Manbij. The pair were "conducting a mission to kill or capture a known ISIS member when they were struck by an improvised explosive device," Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said in a statement, according to The Hill.

In response to these deaths, Turkey's official Anadolu Agency reported Tuesday that the U.S. was setting up two new bases in the area—an extension to an observatory in Dadat village and another installation 2.4 miles from the front line south of Dadat. The report said the U.S. also sent reinforcements Sunday to block a potential Turkish advance against Kurdish groups in the region.

Neither the U.S. nor Turkey have directly threatened to attack one another's forces, but Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag warned Friday that those "who enter into cooperation and solidarity against Turkey" would "become the target of Turkey, just like the terrorists."

The feud between Turkey and Kurdish groups has deeply hindered the U.S.-led coalition's operations against ISIS. Kurdish fighters have fled these front lines to relocate to the battle against Turkey in northern Syria, where they have teamed up with pro-Syrian government forces. As a result, the U.S.-led coalition last month suspended anti-ISIS ground operations in eastern Syria, the only part of the country where the jihadis held any significant territory.

The Pentagon has insisted that Special Forces remain committed to supporting its local allies in the battle against ISIS. The militants have been largely defeated by the Syrian military and Syrian Democratic forces, but pockets and cells remained active throughout the country.

Russia has helped the Syrian military and its allies, including Iran-backed and mostly Shiite Muslim militias, retake much of the country previously held by various insurgent groups. As the Syrian government reclaims control over the Damascus suburbs of eastern Ghouta and continues to battle what remained of the opposition and ISIS elsewhere, Damascus has called on the U.S. and Turkey to withdraw immediately, calling their presence illegal under international law.

(newsweek)