France is preparing a bilateral meeting between President Emmanuel Macron and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), after Damascus withdrew from a wider Paris gathering that had been slated for August 14, according to a well-informed source. The pullout, attributed to tensions surrounding last week’s al-Hasakah conference, has shifted French efforts back to a Macron–Abdi session on a separate track.
The Syrian Observer noted it has not independently verified the information. Details cited in the report are drawn from an anonymous source and references to related coverage by al-Hal Net.
One well-informed source stated that Paris had postponed the Macron–Abdi meeting. At the same time, it attempted to convene a larger format that would bring together representatives of Syria’s transitional government, the SDF, and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). With Damascus now refusing to attend—and French mediation effectively supplanted by Turkish pressure formalized in a document signed in Turkey on August 13—the focus has reverted to the bilateral meeting.
Within the AANES, some view the renewed mention of UN Security Council Resolution 2254 as a signal that national-level processes could be revived to make the transition period conducive to democratic change and prevent Syria from falling under the sway of any single regional power.
Separately, al-Hal Net reported that on August 11, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met in Damascus with Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the AANES Department of Foreign Relations, to propose relocating the Paris talks to Damascus—an offer Ahmed declined.
On Wednesday, a Syrian security delegation arrived in Ankara for an official visit that included Foreign Minister al-Shibani, Defense Minister Marhaf Abu Qasra, and intelligence chief Hussein Salameh. After talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the two top diplomats held a joint press conference, accusing Israel of stoking sectarian strife and chaos in Syria. Al-Shibani also condemned the August 8 al-Hasakah conference, organized by political and community actors from North and East Syria, as a breach of the March 10 agreement between Damascus and the SDF.
If the Macron–Abdi meeting proceeds, it would underscore Paris’s continued engagement with SDF leadership despite Damascus’s withdrawal and Ankara’s heightened role, with timelines and outcomes still unclear.