MESOP “UNDER PUTIN’S BOMBS & FIRE” : UN Envoy to Obama & Putin — Save the Ceasefire, Save the Talks

April 28 – By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has appealed to US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to save the collapsed ceasefire and failing political talks over Syria’s five-year conflict.

Speaking early Thursday after the latest round of discussions in Geneva, de Mistura asked “for a U.S.-Russian urgent initiative at the highest level, because the legacy of both President Obama and President Putin is linked to the success of what has been a unique initiative which started very well. It needs to end very well.”

He urged the US and Russia to convene a Ministerial meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), which brokered the February 27 cessation of hostilities.

De Mistura concluded his meetings with the Assad delegation on Tuesday with no advance. President Assad had said before the resumption of discussions in mid-April that he would not accept a transitional governing authority, and the delegation repeated that it would not negotiate over Assad’s future.The opposition-rebel High Negotiations Committee suspended formal involvement last week, citing the continued regime bombing, sieges, and detentions. It also reiterated that Assad must leave power.

Meanwhile, Russia and the Syrian Air Force have carried out almost a week of sustained bombing, mainly on and near opposition areas of Aleppo city. An estimated 150 people have been killed in the attacks.Moscow had suspended aerial operations after the cessation of hostilities in late February, but it resumed following the recapture of territory south of Aleppo by rebels and the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra. The Syrian military and foreign allies, such as Iranian units and Hezbollah fighters, are also hoping that the Russian attacks will help cut the main routes into the opposition-held parts of Aleppo.

Meanwhile, Syrian State media has accused rebels of shelling regime-held areas in the city, killing 17 civilians and injuring almost 100 on Monday.De Mistura said yesterday that the discussions had been “overshadowed by a substantial and indeed worrisome of cessation of hostilities”:The perception is that it could collapse any time. How can you have substantial talks when you have only news about bombing and shelling? It’s something that even I find it difficult, can you imagine the Syrians?

But, despite the Assad delegation’s refusal to discuss the central issue of the President’s future, the envoy tried to find some optimism in the negotiations of the past two weeks: We didn’t get into names of people…but actually how to change the current governance. And I must say that the concept of a new government and a political transition with a new constitution is quite a lot already in terms of preparing of what could be the next steps.He insisted — without noting President Assad’s rejection of the concept — that “the transitional governance could include members of the present government and the opposition, independents and others”.