UN envoy says Syria peace talks can resume in July
June 21, 2016The UN’s mediator for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said on Tuesday he hopes that stalled Syrian peace talks can resume in July, but only if the security and humanitarian situation on the ground shows clear improvement.
The UN-backed talks aim to reach a political settlement to Syria’s brutal five-year war, but the process has deadlocked while on the ground a fragile truce hangs by a thread.
In April, the Syrian opposition quit the UN-backed talks, but de Mistura insisted the talks would continue despite that.
“The window of opportunity is coming quickly to a close unless we maintain alive the cessation of hostilities, we increase humanitarian aid and we come to some common understanding of a political transition,” de Mistura told the General Assembly via video link from Geneva in his remarks on Tuesday.
“Then we can have, hopefully in July, inter-Syrian talks that are not about principles but about concrete steps to a political transition,” he added. “I will consider that in July but not yet, not now because it is premature in view of the current discussions and current situation.”
The United States and Russia, co-chairs of the 22-nation International Syria Support Group (ISSG) steering the peace process, have set a target of August 1 to begin substantive talks between President Bashar Al-Assad and non-jihadist Syrian rebels on a political transition.
But de Mistura said competing views on how a transition could occur were impeding the peace process, with the Syrian regime, the opposition, the United States and Russia all at odds — particularly over Assad’s future role, a main stumbling block in the talks.
“Political talks cannot proceed,” he stressed, “while hostilities are escalating and civilians are starving.”
Though some besieged communities have received aid shipments recently, the UN is far from having unobstructed, safe access to Syria’s civilian population, de Mistura said.
Since the beginning of the year UN agencies have been able to send land convoys delivering life-saving supplies to 16 of the 18 UN-identified areas under siege — but those same deliveries are often accompanied by an uptick in violence.
De Mistura also noted a “worrisome escalation of fighting” between Assad’s forces and opposition fighters in areas like Aleppo and the Damascus suburbs.
One of the main issues of contention in the negotiations between the warring Syrian parties has been Assad’s future.
The opposition is demanding he leave power – dead or alive – before any transitional government is agreed, while the regime says the president’s future is not up for discussion.
AFP contributed to this report.
Similar posts
-
Timeline of the Gaza Strip Since 1906
June 3, 20241906: A line is drawn between Egypt, ruled de facto by Britain, and the rest of the Ottoman Em...
-
Israel Is Held To A Higher Standard Than Any Country
April 25, 2024In the intricate tapestry of global affairs, one nation stands out for enduring scrutiny and condem...
-
Israel Has The Most Moral Military In The World
April 10, 2024In the heart of a region often riddled with conflict, Israel stands out not only for its technologi...
-
The Resilience of the Israeli People
April 2, 2024Visitors from around the world have seen Hamas's October 7th Massacre's destruction in southern Isr...
-
Israel: Small Size, Big Impact
March 21, 2024Nestled along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, Israel is a land of immense historical sig...
-
Israelis Are Fighting For Their Lives
February 21, 2024By Jonathan S. Tobin The world looks a lot different from Kibbutz Kfar Aza than it does in the U...
-
Over 2 Million Arabs Live In Israel
January 23, 2024In the complex landscape of the Middle East, where diverse cultures and identities intersect, Israe...
-
'Fauda' Star Idan Amedi Injured Fighting in Gaza
January 8, 2024Despite the severity of his injuries, Amedi's father assured Israeli news channels that his life is...