With United Nations-sponsored talks to end the civil war getting nowhere, Russia staged its own. Neither has made much progress.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/world/middleeast/syria-russia-sochi-talks.html
http://carnegie.ru/commentary/75320
https://www.svoboda.org/a/29004532.html
http://www.ng.ru/week/2018-01-28/8_7160_society.html
https://ru.krymr.com/a/28994124.html
https://ru.krymr.com/a/28994065.html