NEW YORK, 10 February, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the UN’s special envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen called for a show of solidarity from the international community and for nations to overcome their differences to support the nation’s peace process.

Following the Security Council’s latest meeting about Syria, Geir’s comments came.

Barbara Woodward, the UK’s permanent representative to the UN, said the session was held in private “due to pressure from a member state.”

Pedersen said he was heartened by the “strong support” from member states for his team’s work as it continues to try and find a solution to the crisis.

The Small Body of Syria’s Constitutional Committee concluded its fifth round of talks in Geneva late last month. Pedersen said he had hoped work would begin on drafting a new constitution but, as he told the Security Council, the talks ended up as “a missed opportunity and a disappointment.”

Pedersen said two proposals were presented in Geneva, one that he drafted and another from the co-chair of the Syrian National Council. The government co-chair did not accept either of them.

With one side proposing that work continued at the existing pace and under the same rules, while the other wanted an overhaul of the process to meet a specific timeline and allow for longer, more regular meetings, the committee was left with no future work plan, said Pedersen.

He told the council that the committee’s working method needs to change and that he will have to see “credible engagement” to ensure that “if the committee reconvenes, it will function properly, work expeditiously, and achieve some results and continued progress in line with the terms of reference that we have already agreed upon.”

Although many of the issues of concern to the committee members are neither constitutional nor “even in the hands of the Syrians themselves,” Pedersen said he told the Security Council that they are all linked.

It is expected that Pedersen will attend the Astana talks between Russia, Turkey, and Iran on Syrian reconciliation, which are scheduled to take place in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on 16 and 17 February. This move will be an attempt to overcome the lack of trust and confidence of the Syrians.