A new clash between Western countries and Russia over Syria emerged in the UN Security Council on Monday. On the tenth anniversary of the Syrian war, Security Council members failed to express a unified position on the approach that should be adopted to activate the political process led by UN mediator Geir Pedersen.
US Representative to the Security Council Linda Thomas Greenfield blamed the Syrian tragedies on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, saying: “To put a permanent end to this suffering, the United States remains committed to achieving a political solution to the Syrian conflict, per the parameters outlined in UN Security Council Resolution 2254. We strongly support Special Envoy Pedersen’s efforts aimed at enhancing and advancing a political settlement.”
She added: “There’s only one reason we have not been able to enact this solution and resolve this crisis: the Assad regime’s refusal to engage in good faith. The regime has not taken a single step that would lay the groundwork for peace.”
In a videoconference session organized by the United States, the current chair of the Council, Greenfield called on Russia to “press the Assad regime to quit stalling.”
“It’s time for the regime to address the conflict’s root cause: the basic demand of all Syrians to live in dignity, free from torture, abuse, and arbitrary detention,” she said.
Russia’s representative to the Security Council Vassily Nebenzia saw that the attempts to “overthrow the government” led to “chaos”, calling for “an end to foreign occupation” and the return of Damascus to the “Arab family.”
While admitting that no military solution could resolve the conflict in Syria, Nebenzia said that the Syrians alone would decide on the fate of their country. He also accused the Syrian opposition of “draining the strength of this country.”
He expressed his belief that Syria “needs to return to the Arab family and the Arab League.”
According to information obtained by Asharq al-Awsat, Pedersen called for “working in good faith” towards drafting a new Syrian constitution, warning that the failure to hold a sixth round during the first half of April would lead to postponing the consultations to after the end of the Ramadan holiday- from mid-April until mid-May-, when the countdown to the Syrian presidential elections scheduled between late May and early June begins.
