UN Special Envoy to Syria to brief Security Council on peace talks

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen will today brief UN Security Council (UNSC) representatives on the Syrian peace process.

Internal UN divergence and conflicting parties’ unwillingness to implement a ceasefire have stymied a mediated solution to Syria’s civil war. Key stakeholders, including Russia—which supports President Bashar al-Assad’s government—have clashed with other Council members over the conflict. Today’s briefing follows January’s session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee (SCC), the UN-sponsored entity responsible for drafting a new Syrian constitution.

Today, Pedersen will likely urge Russia’s UNSC representatives to incentivise Assad to buy into the constitutional process. Still, progress remains unlikely as prior SCC sessions have faltered amid disputes over basic working mechanisms between Damascus and opposition leaders. At issue, Russia supports Assad’s position that the current constitution should only face amendment, making it highly unlikely that the SCC will produce a constitution acceptable to all sides.

Pedersen will likely further urge UNSC members to support a nationwide ceasefire. However, given obstacles including the Biden’s administration’s stated interest in increasing support for longtime Kurdish allies in Syria, ongoing US-Russia tensions, and heightened Russia-Turkey tensions regarding regional ceasefire implementation, such measures remain unlikely—delaying any lasting resolution.

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