Statement on behalf of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria

Further to his meeting with the Secretary-General in Riyadh on 16 April 2018, and in view of the current tensions, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is undertaking intensive high-level consultations with the aim of proactively ascertaining the options for a meaningful relaunch of the UN-facilitated political process as called for in Security Council resolution 2254 (2015).

To this end, the Special Envoy attended the meeting of Foreign Ministers and the Summit of the League of Arab States, where he had consultations with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, among others, as well as the European Union High Representative.

The Special Envoy attended meetings of the Secretary-General in Riyadh with His Majesty the King, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Special Envoy is today in Ankara for meetings with senior Turkish officials, before proceeding to Moscow and Tehran for consultations with senior Russian and Iranian officials.

He expects to consult several European Ministers and senior representatives of the United States, and others, on 24 and 25 April at the Brussels Conference.

He will then brief the Secretary-General on the outcome of these consultations, and in due course brief the Security Council.

Geneva, 18 April