United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East (Syria) at UN world headquarters New York Aug. 29, 2019.

By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS  –   NEW YORK –  Senior United Nations officials Thursday  called for immediate Security Council action to ensure a ceasefire is in place in that country’s north-western Idlib  Governorate amid a surge in civilian casualties and ongoing attacks on key infrastructure.  Peace remains evasive in war-torn Syria.  Nearly a decade of  deadly air strikes and terrorist attacks have left hundreds of thousands of Syrians dead and millions of others injured.  “The Council must take a unified stance against the violence,”  Belgium’s Ambassador to the UN Marc Pecsteen  de Buytswerve stated, emphasizing that the situation cannot continue.  “As such, Belgium has presented a draft resolution on the humanitarian situation with a view to working on the text with all other members.”

Credit: Gary Raynaldo  / Geir Pedersen, the Special Envoy for Syria, outside UN Security Council chamber press conference after  briefing on situation in Syria Aug. 29, 2019. 

“There are some worrying developments on the ground. There are too many civilians being killed. Too many civilians being displaced.”

-Geir Pedersen, the Special Envoy for Syria

Pedersen also stressed that  the situation in Idlib must be resolved through a predominantly political solution.  He called attention to Syrians facing unprecedented levels of poverty and a sense of hopelessness alongside millions of refugees still facing obstacles to a safe, dignified and voluntary return home.   He also stressed  the urgent need for a nationwide ceasefire, as stipulated in Council resolution 2254 (2015).

 “We are entering a crucial month for the parties to engage with the United Nations in finalizing the constitutional committee and key international players to stabilize Idlib, the north-east and regional tensions, and come together behind the United Nations effort.” 

-Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /    Dmitry Polyanskiy, the First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, makes informal comments on the situation in Syria to reporters outside UN Security Council chambers at world headquarters in New York Aug. 29, 2019.

“We always have this pressure when the military initiative on the ground (in Syria) changes,” Dmitry Polyanskiy, the First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, said prior to Thursday’s Security Council meeting on Syria. “Then there are some pressures like this. We have a concern about this military situation and we need to tackle this issue…and what the resolutions do not always help this. So there are some other means to do it.”

During the Security Council meeting, Ambassador Polyyanskiy told the council:  “The real cause of the current situation is the actions of terrorist groups in the relevant areas,”  adding that history will judge those who have almost destroyed Syria, including by making false statements.

Bashar  Ja’Afari, the UN Syrian Ambassador reiterating that the “Syrian and Russian air forces do not attack civilian targets.” The Syria Ambassador emphasized that their air operations target terrorist bases.   He  stated that the real threat now is the “occupation by the United States and Turkey”, which created a new reality on the ground by attempting to establish a “safe zone” on Syrian territory.  That decision constitutes a blatant violation of Syria’s rights as a sovereign nation, he said, adding  that reflects a dangerous reality in which two antagonist countries support terrorist groups in a third — Syria.