Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / SYRIA
STORY: UN / SYRIA
TRT: 05:17
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 21 MAY 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN Headquarters
21 MAY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council, Special Envoy Geir Pedersen on screen
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, United Nations:
“Last week, in a significant development celebrated across Syria, United States President Trump announced from Riyadh that he would order the cessation of sanctions on Syria. Yesterday, the European Union announced the lifting of its economic sanctions on Syria. The UK revoked their previous sanctions regime last month. I have long called for bold steps on sanctions, as have millions of Syrians in and outside the country, and I warmly welcome these international steps.”
4. Wide shot, Council, Pedersen on screen
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, United Nations:
“These are indeed historic developments. They hold major potential to improve living conditions across the country and to support the Syrian political transition. And they give the Syrian people a chance to grapple with the legacy of misrule, conflict, abuses and poverty from which they are trying to emerge.”
6. Wide shot, Council, Pedersen on screen
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, United Nations:
“But we also know that Syria faces significant structural challenges, with an economy ravaged by over a
decade of war and conflict, and a host of other destabilizing factors. Revitalizing a devastated economy will require from the interim authorities sustained actions including on overall economic reform and governance standards across the financial system, and this will need international support.”
8. Wide shot, Council, Pedersen on screen
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, United Nations:
“Let me also note my alarm at renewed Israeli airstrikes in Syria in the reporting period, including during the violence in Druze areas and close to the presidential palace. Such attacks are unacceptable and must cease. Syria’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity must be respected. There are clearly diplomatic possibilities and these must be prioritized.”
10. Wide shot, Council, OCHA’s Ramesh Rajasingham on screen
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Ramesh Rajasingham, Director, Coordination Division, Head and Representative of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva (OCHA):
“16.5 million Syrians need protection and humanitarian assistance. Over half of the population is food insecure. Nearly 3 million people face severe food insecurity. More than 670,000 men, women and children have been displaced since November last year. This includes some 15,000 people displaced between 30 April and 6 May from Rural Damascus due to the violence in Druze-majority areas. At the same time, since December, over 1 million internally displaced people have returned to their areas of origin, including some 330,000 people from camps in north-west Syria.”
12. Wide shot, United States representative John Kelley addressing Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) John Kelley, Minister Counsellor, Permanent Mission to the United Nations, United States:
“Six months after Syrians celebrated the end of the despotic Assad regime, President Trump pledged sanctions relief for Syria to give Syrians, as he said, a chance at greatness. The President wants to see Syria and the entire region thrive. That's why he's made a bold decision on Syria with the hope the new government will take this opportunity to rebuild and take the country from being a source of instability to a source of stability.”
14. Wide shot, Syrian representative Riyad Khaddour addressing Council
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Riyad Khaddour, Minister Counsellor, Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Syrian Arab Republic:
“Today, we are witnessing the international community's eagerness to embrace this pivotal moment re-opening its doors to Syria and engaging actively with it. This clearly culminated with the visit of the President of the United States to the region in which included key milestones and constructive decisions, most notably, President Trump's courageous decision announced from Riyadh - a location of great symbolic significance - to lift sanctions on Syria.”
16. Wide shot, Khaddour addressing Council
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Riyad Khaddour, Minister Counsellor, Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Syrian Arab Republic:
“The new Syria is in sincere pursuit of becoming a state of peace and partnership, not a battleground for conflicts or a platform for foreign ambitions. The new Syria welcomes constructive cooperation initiatives based on mutual interests and mutual respect.”
18. Wide shot, end of Council session
The Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, today (21 May) “warmly” welcomed last week’s announcement by United States President Donald Trump on the cessation of sanctions on Syria, as well as similar steps recently announced by the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Briefing the Security Council remotely from Damascus, Pedersen said, “I have long called for bold steps on sanctions, as have millions of Syrians in and outside the country.”
The Special Envoy said there “are indeed historic developments,” which “hold major potential to improve living conditions across the country and to support the Syrian political transition,” as well as giving the Syrian people “a chance to grapple with the legacy of misrule, conflict, abuses and poverty from which they are trying to emerge.”
Pedersen said, “we also know that Syria faces significant structural challenges, with an economy ravaged by over a
decade of war and conflict, and a host of other destabilizing factors. Revitalizing a devastated economy will require from the interim authorities sustained actions including on overall economic reform and governance standards across the financial system, and this will need international support.”
He also noted “alarm at renewed Israeli airstrikes in Syria in the reporting period, including during the violence in Druze areas and close to the presidential palace.”
Such attacks, Pedersen said, “are unacceptable and must cease,” and Syria’s “sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity must be respected.”
He said, “there are clearly diplomatic possibilities and these must be prioritized.”
Also briefing remotely, the Geneva Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva (OCHA) Director, Ramesh Rajasingham, said, “16.5 million Syrians need protection and humanitarian assistance. Over half of the population is food insecure. Nearly 3 million people face severe food insecurity.”
Rajasingham noted that “more than 670,000 men, women and children have been displaced since November last year. This includes some 15,000 people displaced between 30 April and 6 May from Rural Damascus due to the violence in Druze-majority areas.”
At the same time, he said, “since December, over 1 million internally displaced people have returned to their areas of origin, including some 330,000 people from camps in north-west Syria.”
Highlighting the alarming funding situation, he warned that as of today, only 10 percent has been funded of the $2 billion needed to reach 8 million people from January through June of this year.
United States representative John Kelley told the Council that President Trump pledged sanctions relief, will give Syrians, “a chance at greatness,” adding that Trump “wants to see Syria and the entire region thrive.”
Kelley said, “that's why he's made a bold decision on Syria with the hope the new government will take this opportunity to rebuild and take the country from being a source of instability to a source of stability.”
For his part, Syria’s representative Riyad Khaddour said, “today, we are witnessing the international community's eagerness to embrace this pivotal moment re-opening its doors to Syria and engaging actively with it. This clearly culminated with the visit of the President of the United States to the region in which included key milestones and constructive decisions, most notably, President Trump's courageous decision announced from Riyadh - a location of great symbolic significance - to lift sanctions on Syria.”
Khaddour said, “the new Syria is in sincere pursuit of becoming a state of peace and partnership, not a battleground for conflicts or a platform for foreign ambitions. The new Syria welcomes constructive cooperation initiatives based on mutual interests and mutual respect.”
Download
There is no media available to download.
