Talking Peace: This week in global diplomatic negotiations

The international community is still divided on responses to the August chemical attack in Syria, as diplomats attend a series of meetings to discuss a new possible diplomatic resolution—led by Russia—prompted by a Monday morning “gaffe” by Secretary of State John Kerry.

In other diplomatic news, the Congolese military and M23 rebels may be sitting at the negotiation table, Turkish officials have voiced support for Iran’s nuclear energy program, and North and South Korea test the waters with sports diplomacy.

Here’s what you should keep an eye on:

ON SYRIA

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced today, in his first public response to Russia’s plans for diplomacy, that it was Russian diplomacy and not the threat of an American strike that inspired his agreement to the plan.

The announcement came just as Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva for the first of two days of meetings about the diplomatic plan, and on the tail of yesterday’s meeting between the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China on the same topic.

While diplomats did not publicly comment on the meeting to reporters, NBC News reported, a senior State Department official reportedly said that reaching a UN consensus on the Syrian crisis is "doable, but difficult and complicated."

Prior to his 1:30 pm meeting with Kerry, Lavrov suggested that the result of the summit could reach further than just an agreement on chemical weapons.

"I am certain that there's a chance for peace in Syria," he said in Kazakhstan.

Shortly before the Kerry’s meetings were set to start, however, leader of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Brig. Gen. Salim Idris reportedly rejected the initiative.

"We ask that the international community not be content with withdrawing chemical weapons, which are a criminal instrument, but to hold the perpetrator accountable and prosecute him at the International Criminal Court,'' he said in an online statement.

Also before today’s talks, Assad insisted that the US halt its military threats, as well as its arms shipments to rebels “before his government turns over its chemical weapons.” NBC today “confirmed that the CIA had finally begun sending weapons to Syrian rebels, a move that ended months of delay in the lethal aid promised by the White House, according to U.S. officials and Syrian figures.”

CONGO

The Congolese government and the M23 rebel group have “made progress in talks organized by neighboring nations,” according to a statement issued on Tuesday.

"Significant progress has been made in the dialogue," said the statement posted to the website for the Office of the Facilitator of the International Conference of the Great Lakes, which is hosting a mediation effort in the capital of Uganda.

Late last month, Congolese troops exchanged heavy fire with the M23 rebels—a group composed primarily of fighters from a rebel group that disbanded after signing a peace agreement with Congo in 2009—just outside the city of Goma.

UN forces on the ground have been aiding the Congolese military in fighting the rebel group using combat helicopters, and helped the military to reclaim several M23-held areas.

The rebels then suddenly “declared a cease-fire, saying they wanted to resume talks,” according to the Associated Press.

Since the 2009 peace agreement, there was a 3-year period of relative calm before the rebels who had joined the regular Congolese military defected, causing tension and leading back into a state of conflict.

Congo had allegedly “not held up its end of the bargain by failing to implement the signed agreement.”

Tuesday's statement said both sides of the conflict “agreed that 65 percent of the provisions in the 2009 accord have been implemented, while 35 percent have not.”

"The parties have expressed determination to ensure that the balance of the agreement will be implemented as well," it said.

The presidents of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan and Tanzania, and the UN special envoy to the region, and the special envoy from the United States all attended the peace negotiations.

But the AP reported that following increasing violence in recent days a fleet of military vehicles was seen heading from the Rwandan capital to the Congolese border, “heightening fears the two nations, which have gone to war twice before, might be heading for another confrontation.”

TURKEY

A statement released by Turkish officials following today’s session of the International Atomic Energy Agency meeting, held in the Austrian capital city of Vienna, voiced the country’s support for a diplomatic solution over Iran's nuclear program.

"Turkey is ready to contribute to every effort aimed at finding a solution," the statement said, which went on to “praised the work of IAEA and expressed pleasure with the agency’s inspection of Iran’s nuclear program.”

The statement declared the Turkish officials’ acceptance of a universal right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, as long as all parties who agree to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons actually obey the terms of the agreement.

Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, referring to heavy international criticisms of Iran’s nuclear program said "we want to speak in the language of 'dialogue', not in embargo.”

Further, Iranian officials went on to say the country is ready prepared to take on negotiations with the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—the US, France, Britain, Russia and China.

KOREAS

Contributing to a recent rise in sports diplomacy, a weightlifting competition in North Korea’s capital this week—in which the South Korean athletes participated—could be bringing hopes of a more open relationship between North Korea and South Korea, Voice of America reported.

“Already, the event represents a breakthrough because of North Korea’s willingness to play the South Korean national anthem, and hoist its flag, if the South Korean team wins,” VOA wrote.

A South Korean team of 22 weightlifters and 19 sports officials traveled to North Korea for the first time on September 10 to compete in the Asian Cup and Interclub Weightlifting Championship, hosted by Pyongyang.

The team was invited by North Korea in August, and South Korea’s Unification Ministry approved the trip just last week, with the condition that Pyongyang “maintains international standards if one of their athletes win.” International standards include playing the winning country’s national anthem, and hoisting the top three countries’ flags.

This kind of official, public recognition of the symbols of South Korean sovereignty is unprecedented in the communist North.

Kim Ki-dong, Vice President of South Korea's Weightlifting Federation, said “North Korea's unexpected flexibility on the flag and anthem could be a sign that ‘sports diplomacy’ is beginning to pay off,” and that he thinks the gesture was inspired by prior US-China negotiations.

The US and China helped make their relationship better when they started “ping-pong diplomacy.”