Two US State Department special envoys linked on Tuesday the legitimacy of the regime in Syria with the need to achieve serious progress in the UN-sponsored political process.
“We will affirm there will be no reconstruction assistance and no legitimacy for the Syrian government absent irreversible progress in the UN-sponsored political process,” the State Department's special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and Special Envoy for Syria, Joel Rayburn, said in a joint statement.
The officials said Washington is determined to reach a political solution that separates the Syrian regime from Iran and its proxies, ensures that Damascus does not threaten its regional neighbors, and guarantees the safe return of displaced persons, and remains free of weapons of mass destruction.
Last week, the Small Group on Syria, including Germany, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the US, called on the UN to quickly form a constitutional committee capable of drafting a new Syrian constitution.
Separately, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said from Paris Tuesday: “Our diplomats there (Syria) on the ground have been doubled in number.”
“As we see the military operations becoming less, we will see the diplomatic effort now able to take (root).”
He did not, however, specify how many US diplomats are in Syria.
