UN meets to discuss conflict in Syria
The UN Security Council will hold a closed meeting today on the humanitarian situation in Syria.
Despite short-lived optimism following the recent UN-brokered peace talks, the Geneva process has failed to bring about progress on key issues, such as the implementation of a national ceasefire, the promise of free and fair elections, the rebuilding of state institutions and the rewriting of the constitution.
The failure of the talks coincides with a recent uptick in the Syrian regime’s military mobilisation in Idlib, where a Russian-Turkish ceasefire has delayed direct military confrontation since March. The regime’s recent troop build-up has prompted Turkish-backed rebel factions such as the Free Syrian Army and the former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to ramp up military activities, indicating a possible resurgence of violence in northern Syria.
Though the UN is likely to address these issues in today’s meeting, its ability to affect Syria’s political trajectory is rapidly waning, as demonstrated by the failed talks in August. This means that, rather than the UN, the Sochi trio—comprised of Russia, Iran and Turkey, which all have a boots-on-the-ground presence in Syria—is likely to map out the future of Syria in the foreseeable future.
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