UN Security Council backs new Syria mediation efforts

Before all 15 council members approved the text, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the presidential statement “would be the first exclusively political document on the Syrian crisis adopted by consensus”.

Venezuela, which has friendly relations with Syria, said it was disassociating itself from parts of the statement calling for a political transition to end the four-year war.

The UN Security Council on Monday backed plans for a transitional government in Syria.

The spat coincides with the Security Council endorsement of a recently announced plan by de Mistura aimed at setting the stage for new peace talks to end the country’s long-running civil war.

Venezuela’s UN Ambassador Rafael Ramirez Carreno told the council after the statement was read at an open meeting that it violates “the sovereignty and self-determination of the Syrian people by promoting a political transition including the establishment of a transitional government without its consent and thus goes against the Charter of the United Nations”.

The Security Council supported the approach set out by the Special Envoy to work for political negotiations and a political transition based on the Geneva Communiqu through more focused consultations and discussions with the Syrian parties in four thematic working groups: safety and protection for all, political and legal issues, military, security and counterterrorism issues, and continuity of public services and reconstruction and development.

All are seeking a way to break an impasse politically though many key differences remain, especially those over the future of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

The council expressed “grave alarm that the Syria crisis has become the largest humanitarian emergency crisis in the world today”, with some 12 million Syrians forced to flee their homes. The United Nations statement requests Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon report back on the next phase of Syria mediation within 90 days.

The French envoy stressed that progress on defining a new government for Syria would bolster the campaign against Islamic State militants who have gained territory in Syria over the past year.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said at least 96 people were killed in the strikes, which UN officials called “unacceptable”.