French President Emmanuel Macron had five principle demands concerning the situation in Syria during three separate telephone conversations in the past two days with his Russian, Iranian and Turkish counterparts.
Sources at the Elysee presidential palace told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that Paris continues to exert diplomatic pressure on parties which have influence over the Syrian regime, particularly Russia and Iran, to achieve five main goals in the war torn country.
According to sources, the first demand lies in convincing the Syrian regime to accept UN Resolution 2401, particularly that the United Nations had already received three letters from groups operating in eastern Ghouta, in which they expressed willingness to respect the decision.
Macron also demanded a “real” ceasefire across Syria, mainly because a five-hour humanitarian pause was not sufficient.
The third demand revolves around opening the border crossings, while the fourth requests empowering humanitarian committees to allow for aid deliveries and medical evacuations.
According to the French sources, Paris also calls for the need to form a UN-sponsored mechanism on the observation of the truce and the implementation of Resolution 2401.
Paris hopes to produce a certain change in Ghouta.
“The Russian and Iranian presidents said the five-point plan was practical, and (Russia’s Vladimir) Putin described it as reasonable,” the sources said, adding that Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, and his Russian counterpart expressed willingness to discuss the French ideas.
However, despite welcoming the French initiative, Russia and Iran later said opposition groups had failed to implement the truce and continued to launch attacks in Syria.
The French demands were also blocked by Russian and Iranian claims that Resolution 2401 allows the Syrian regime offensive to continue against ISIS and al-Nusra Front positions.
