Next round of Syrian peace talks scheduled for Geneva put on hold: UN envoy

GENEVA (AA) – The UN special envoy for Syria has said that the next session of the Syrian-led and UN-facilitated talks scheduled for July 25-29 in Geneva “is no longer possible.”

While Geir Pedersen said he regrets that holding the ninth session of the “Constitutional Committee’s Small Body” to find a constitution for the war-torn country will not take place.

He did not give any specific reasons.

“The Special Envoy stresses the importance of all the stakeholders in this conflict protecting and firewalling the Syrian political process from their differences elsewhere in the world and encourages them to engage in constructive diplomacy on Syria,” he said in a statement.

On July 12, the UN Security Council had agreed to extend its mandate for badly-needed cross-border aid deliveries into Syria for six months following Russia’s blocking of a one-year stay.

The 12-0 vote came after Russia vetoed a UN resolution four days earlier that would have extended cross-border deliveries from Türkiye for one year.

The resolution nixed by Moscow last week included a one-year extension for aid deliveries from Türkiye’s Cilvegozu border crossing to Bab al-Hawa in northwest Syria.

Russia had sought a six-month extension with the option of another six months.

On June 30, Pedersen addressed the UN Security Council on the process he is driving and said the constitutional talks “if approached the right way, could contribute to a political settlement to implement resolution 2254,” which calls for a cease-fire and political settlement in Syria.

The Syrian civil war began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.

According to UN estimates, hundreds of thousands of people have since been killed and millions more displaced.