Syria eyes new talks with Kurdish forces
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Military members gather near Raqqa prison, where the Syrian army is besieging SDF members after the Syrian army took control of the city of Raqqa, Syria Jan. 19, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Hassano
BEIRUT - The Syrian government hopes to hold a new round of talks with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, possibly later on Tuesday, to spell out how the force would merge into the central state, a senior Syrian government official said.
Syria's government and the SDF have been locked in a year-long dispute over whether and how Kurdish civilian and military institutions, which have operated autonomously in northeast Syria for a decade, would integrate into the Damascus-based government.
After a deadline to merge passed at the end of 2025 with little progress, Syrian troops seized swathes of northern and eastern territory from the SDF in a rapid turn of events that has consolidated Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's rule.
The two sides signed a sweeping integration deal on January 18 but have yet to hammer out the details.
The Syrian official said that would be the aim of the upcoming meeting, which he said would be held "with U.S. support".
Washington has been engaged in shuttle diplomacy to reach a lasting ceasefire and political resolution between the SDF - once its top ally in Syria - and Sharaa, now its favoured partner in the country.
The official declined to say where exactly the meeting would take place but said it would be inside Syria and likely in a neutral location - neither Damascus nor the remaining Kurdish-held cities of the northeast.
An SDF spokesperson declined to comment when asked about the planned meeting.
The spectre of resumed fighting between the two sides still looms over the talks, with Syrian government troops amassed around a cluster of Kurdish-held cities in the north, where Kurdish fighters are reinforcing their defensive lines.
The two sides agreed to a ceasefire that was extended on Saturday until February 8.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily;Editing by Alison Williams // REUTERS)
