Syrian people role in determining their own future stressed

As the United Nations Security Council passes a resolution to end the five-year crisis in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised the agreement, while stressing the role of the Syrian people in determining their own future.

During the UN Security Council meeting in which the 15 member voted unanimously to approve new draft resolution for ending the Syrian conflict, Lavrov praised the agreement’s potential for creating an opportunity to create a united anti-terrorism front, according to the Russian Sputnik.

“Today’s unanimous vote in the Council should pave the way for the formation of a broad front against terrorism on the basis of the UN Charter, with the support of all on Earth who are opposed to terrorism, including the army of Syria, the Kurdish militia, and the armed forces of the Syrian patriotic opposition,” Lavrov said. “The air force of the Russian Federation, at the request of the legitimate government of the Syrian Arab Republic, is contributing to the completion of this task.”

“It is important that today the UN Security Council once again confirmed the necessity of respecting the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic,” he added.

 That means that a military solution should be avoided, even if some UN members are pushing for that option.

“The key principle is that only the Syrian people can determine the fate of their country. Everyone agrees on this principle but I will not hide that not all have abandoned preconditions and not all have abandoned their own interpretation of how this principle can be implemented in practice,” Lavrov said. “Not all have refused the possibility of a military solution to the Syrian crisis, which is absolutely unacceptable for us.”

Lavrov also stressed that everyone shares the belief that terrorists should play no role in the peace talks, saying that “all are united in their belief that terrorists of all kinds have no place at the negotiation table, neither do those who allow a military solution.”

The lead role in mediating the peace process will be overseen by UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura. Lavrov said that Russia is prepared to organize a meeting to assist in that effort.

The resolution also demands that all parties allow the distribution of humanitarian aid.

“The resolution stresses the need to provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people,” Lavrov said. “It must be provided in strict accordance with the guidelines of the United Nations, enshrined in General Assembly resolutions and the decisions of the Security Council, including the principle of the consent of the host government.”

“We have agreed that it is necessary, first of all, to maintain unity within the framework of the International Syria Support Group,” he said during a press conference following the meeting. “Only with the participating of all external players that have real influence on the situation in the world, is it possible to achieve results.”

The foreign minister also indicated that the resolution endorses the Vienna Statements.

“We have reached a common understanding that the principles that were worked out in Vienna on October 30 and November 14 are not to be revised,” Lavrov said.

UN Security Council Unanimously Agrees Blueprint

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted the resolution developed by the five permanent members of the council earlier on Friday.

The agreement will create a roadmap toward a peace process end the five-year crisis  in Syria, and was drafted earlier on Friday.

Participants in the Friday talks preceding the adoption of the resolution included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation representatives.

The result of the voting is clear, the draft resolution has received 15 votes in favor. Therefore the draft resolution has been adopted unanimously,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said during the meeting.

The resolution includes preparations for a ceasefire monitoring mechanism that would come into effect “as soon as the representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition have begun initial steps towards a political transition under UN auspices,” according to Reuters.

Talks with the Syrian opposition are set to begin in early January, and the draft “demands that all parties immediately cease any attacks against civilians and civilian objects,” and “stresses that the Syrian people will decide the future of Syria.”

The resolution sets a target of six months for the government transition, while elections are planned to be held within 18 months.

It “reconfirms its endorsement of the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012, endorses the ‘Vienna Statements’ in pursuit of the full implementation of the Geneva Communiqué, as the basis for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition in order to end the conflict in Syria, and stresses that the Syrian people will decide the future of Syria.”

The document also expresses support “for a Syrian-led political process that is facilitated by the United Nations and, within a target of six months, establishes credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance and sets a schedule and process for drafting a new constitution, and further expresses its support for free and fair elections, pursuant to the new constitution, to be held within 18 months and administered under supervision of the United Nations.”

The resolution also contains previously agreed upon terms for a transitional government, with elections to be held under UN supervision, and calls on all parties to permit the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Only the Islamic State, or Daesh, and the al-Nusra terrorist groups will be exempt from a ceasefire that the UN Security Council is hoping to broker through the Vienna process.

“It is our hope that a nationwide ceasefire can go into effect excluding only Daesh and al- Nusra and any other group that we might decide at some time to designate,” Kerry stated on Friday after the passage of the resolution.

                                                                                  

 

M. A.