The Syrian government said it hopes to hold new talks with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to settle how the SDF and Kurdish institutions will be integrated into the central state. The two sides signed a broad integration agreement on January 18 but still need to agree on implementation details. Washington is facilitating diplomacy to secure a lasting ceasefire and political settlement, though the risk of renewed fighting remains as forces mass near Kurdish-held northern cities. The ceasefire has been extended until February 8.
Syria Seeks Fresh Talks With Kurdish-Led SDF to Define Integration Terms
Members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) queue to settle their status with Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria January 27, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
BEIRUT, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The Syrian government said it hopes to hold a fresh round of talks with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), possibly later on Tuesday, to clarify how the SDF and Kurdish institutions would be integrated into the central state.
The government and the SDF have been locked in a year-long dispute over whether and how Kurdish civilian and military institutions — which have operated with de facto autonomy across northeast Syria for about a decade — should be absorbed into Damascus's institutions.
After a deadline for the merger passed at the end of 2025 with little progress, Syrian troops moved quickly to seize large swathes of northern and eastern territory from the SDF in a rapid shift that has strengthened President Bashar al-Assad's control.
Women walk with Syrian flags, after Syria and the main Kurdish fighting force SDF struck a wide-ranging deal to bring Kurdish civilian and military authorities under central government control on Sunday, ending days of fighting in which Syrian troops captured territory including key oil fields, in Raqqa, Syria January 19, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
The two sides signed a broad integration agreement on January 18, but they have yet to work out the operational and political details needed to implement the pact. A senior Syrian government official said the upcoming meeting would aim to resolve those outstanding issues and added it would be held "with U.S. support."
Washington has been conducting shuttle diplomacy to try to secure a lasting ceasefire and a political settlement between the SDF — once its principal ally in Syria — and the Damascus government, which the U.S. increasingly treats as a key interlocutor in the country.
The Syrian official declined to specify the meeting location, saying only that it would take place inside Syria at a neutral venue — neither in Damascus nor in the remaining Kurdish-held cities in the northeast. An SDF spokesperson declined to comment on the planned talks.
The possibility of renewed fighting still hangs over negotiations. Syrian government forces remain massed around a cluster of Kurdish-held northern cities while Kurdish fighters have been reinforcing defensive lines. Meanwhile, the two sides are operating under a ceasefire that was extended on Saturday until February 8.
Key quote: "The meeting aims to set out how the SDF will be merged into the central state," the Syrian official said, adding that talks would proceed with U.S. facilitation.
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