Two days of talks with Syria, Iran, Russia and Turkey ended in Kazakhstan, without any tangible progress on the creation of a constitutional commission leading a political settlement in the war-ravaged country. The next round of consultations is scheduled to take place in Geneva.
The three countries sponsoring the talks said in a joint statement that the meeting discussed the establishment of the constitutional committee with the UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen.
According to the statement, the parties "reaffirmed their commitment to move forward with the political process led and owned by the Syrians and supervised by the United Nations in line with Security Council resolution 2254".
The joint statement added that the meeting was part of "accelerating the work of launching the constitutional committee as soon as possible in line with the decisions of the Syrian national dialogue conference in Sochi, and decided to hold the next round of these consultations in Geneva and affirmed their full readiness to contribute to the efforts of the Special Envoy, In that effective dialogue with the Syrian parties ».
The United Nations is counting heavily on the establishment of the Constitutional Commission, through which it hopes to find a settlement to the Syrian conflict.
He announced the day before yesterday that "several points are unclear" slows down the establishment of this committee, without giving further details.
Iran, Russia and Turkey seized the occasion of the meeting in the Kazakh capital, Sultan, to renew their rejection of the United States recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.
In the joint statement, the three countries condemned the US step, saying it constitutes "a serious violation of international law, particularly Security Council resolution 497, and threatens peace and security in the Middle East."
The statement added that Iraq and Lebanon will be invited to participate in the upcoming talks on Syria in Kazakhstan in July.
The United Nations and Jordan participate in the talks as observers.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, announced that "several unclear points" slowed down the establishment of the constitutional committee, through which the United Nations hopes to revive the process of settling the Syrian conflict, which has killed more than 370,000 people since 2011 .
"There are some unclear points," Lavrentyev told reporters in the capital of Kazakhstan, Nur Sultan, that the path to forming the constitutional commission was "complex." He gave no further details.
Bilateral and tripartite talks were held yesterday, before an expanded meeting, yesterday.
This round of talks falls within the framework of the so-called "Astana track", which began in early 2017.
The capital of Kazakhstan was changed last month from Astana to Sultan, following the former president.
The talks in Astana largely hampered the diplomatic efforts of the United Nations in Syria.
A Western diplomat told Agence France-Presse that Moscow would be aware of the fact that the recent rounds of the so-called "Path of Astana" did not make much progress, while pushing Moscow to accelerate the formation of a constitutional committee could launch the political process in the country.
The composition of the Constitutional Commission is of particular importance to the United Nations, which prefers a Syrian-led solution to the conflict.
The diplomat told «AFP»: «Even if the establishment of a constitutional committee, its work will take a long time, and will not reach a definite result».
According to a UN plan, the Constitutional Commission is supposed to include 150 members, 50 of whom will be selected by the regime, 50 opposition members and 50 UN delegates, with experts and representatives from civil society.
Thus, the proposal does not pose much risk to Moscow, whose military intervention in 2015 allowed the Syrian regime to turn the field equation to its advantage, having lost large parts of the territory.
- The parties reaffirmed their commitment to move forward
In the political process he leads and owns
Syrians and supervised by the United Nations.