The war in Syria drags on, taking hundreds of thousands of lives and displacing millions of people. The conflict has created a power vacuum being filled by ISIS and other jihadist groups, while also serving as a proxy for the clashing geo-political strategic interests of Russia, the United States, Iran and other regional players. The United Nations has been helpless in trying to bring any order out of the chaos. Two special envoys for Syria, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi, gave up altogether. The third envoy currently tilting at windmills is Staffan de Mistura.
Mr.de Mistura told reporters, after briefing the Security Council June 29th on the current situation in Syria, that the time was not yet ripe to resume intra-Syrian talks on forming a transitional government. There have been two previous inconclusive rounds of talks. The last round was suspended in April. The “critical mass” for new talks is missing, Mr.de Mistura said. A negotiated “cessation of hostilities” has fallen apart, with violence on the uptick. Access for aid workers to deliver much needed humanitarian supplies to besieged areas has improved somewhat, but is still woefully inadequate to meet the critical needs of trapped civilians for food and medical assistance.
While not committing to any fixed date for resuming talks, the UN special envoy for Syria nevertheless expressed a sense of urgency in moving forward, noting that “political transition is a priority.” He added that he was “aiming at August as the period where we should be seeing something concrete. So that in September we take stock.”
“Do I need to remind you what is going to happen between now and September?” Mr.de Mistura asked reporters before proceeding to answer the question himself. “The next General Assembly will be the last where the Secretary-General will be there. The last General Assembly where President Obama will be there. We will have a G20 in September when perhaps it will be the last occasion for President Obama and President Putin to meet.”
Mr.de Mistura recognized that the UN could not do much on its own to advance the peace process. The UN has the power to convene a meeting anytime it wishes, he said, but “you want to make sure that it has good chances of success.” He put the onus principally upon the United States and Russia, as the co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, “to come with a feeling of urgency and work on some ideas on how to bridge their differences by what everyone means by political transition.”
The problem is that the United States and Russia, while sharing the desire to defeat ISIS, remain far apart on their desired outcome for Syria. The U.S. and its allies want to see President Bashar Al-Assad gone. Russia has intervened militarily to save the Assad regime.
With great fanfare last December, Secretary of State John Kerry praised the unanimous approval of a United Nations Security Council resolution setting a timetable for the establishment of a transitional government in Syria. Refusing to admit that the Security Council resolution simply kicked the can down the road with regard to solving the major issues, Kerry said, “This is not being kicked down the road; it’s actually being timed out.” In full spin mode he added that “this at least demands that the parties come to the table.”
Six months later, when, according to the Security Council timetable, agreement should have been reached on the composition of transitional government, there is not even a “critical mass” to get the warring parties back to the table to begin meaningful political talks. The UN Security Council is incapable of demanding anything from the parties. Time is running out.
The war in Syria drags on, taking hundreds of thousands of lives and displacing millions of people. The conflict has created a power vacuum being filled by ISIS and other jihadist groups, while also serving as a proxy for the clashing geo-political strategic interests of Russia, the United States, Iran and other regional players. The United Nations has been helpless in trying to bring any order out of the chaos. Two special envoys for Syria, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi, gave up altogether. The third envoy currently tilting at windmills is Staffan de Mistura.
Mr.de Mistura told reporters, after briefing the Security Council June 29th on the current situation in Syria, that the time was not yet ripe to resume intra-Syrian talks on forming a transitional government. There have been two previous inconclusive rounds of talks. The last round was suspended in April. The “critical mass” for new talks is missing, Mr.de Mistura said. A negotiated “cessation of hostilities” has fallen apart, with violence on the uptick. Access for aid workers to deliver much needed humanitarian supplies to besieged areas has improved somewhat, but is still woefully inadequate to meet the critical needs of trapped civilians for food and medical assistance. 
