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STORY: GENEVA / SYRIA UPDATE
TRT: 2:40
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 JULY 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Aerial shot, Palais des Nations
28 JULY 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, de Mistura at podium
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“We are all awaiting and urging the two co-chairs, which means Russia and the US, to expedite their own discussions on how to reduce violence along the lines of their own discussions in Moscow and then in Laos, between particularly Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry. However, on the humanitarian side, the situation, the reality is that currently, what is actually impeding the access of humanitarian aid is not permissions, is not papers, it is rather fighting. And fighting is the main reason for which this week we are not able to give you good news about humanitarian access.”
4. Wide shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“Now Aleppo, the situation is extremely serious, no doubt. There is probably we heard, two to three weeks of supplies, and in view of the bombing of the warehouses, medical facilities, bakeries, and the need of treating wounded people when in fact the medical facilities are being hit, the humanitarian situation is getting more and more concerning. The city is de facto besieged because it is almost militarily completely encircled.”
6. Med shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“I will not tell you that I’m going to cancel peace talks, because the UN is bound to try and try again and try again, and when we fail, fail better and try again. So that’s our philosophy, especially when what is at stake is such a tragic situation of Syrian people, after five years. What I can tell you is that if those discussions do not produce fruit, they will certainly have a very negative impact on the chances of the talks to become fruitful and successful; they will be anyway uphill talks, but we need to give them the maximum chances.”
8. Med shot, photographer
United Nations (UN) negotiator Staffan de Mistura said the diplomatic push for a new round of Syria talks was continuing amid increasing concerns about the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country.
Speaking to the press in Geneva today (28 Jul), de Mistura blamed ongoing fighting for hampering aid access, not administrative delays. He said the deteriorating situation in the country’s second city, Aleppo, was “extremely serious” as residents are running out of supplies. He said, “The city is de facto besieged because it is almost militarily completely encircled.”
Amid reports of a joint Syria-Russia proposal to help people leave Aleppo, de Mistura urged the United States and Russia to come to an agreement. He indicated that while the super-powers talked, people continued to suffer inside Syria amid ongoing fighting.
De Mistura brushed off any suggestion that he might cancel upcoming Intra-Syria talks in Geneva if the recent and ongoing US-Russia discussions come to nothing. However, he conceded that they “will certainly have a very negative impact on the chances of the talks to become fruitful and successful”.
In addition to Aleppo, the UN Envoy for Syria said violence persisted in Damascus, Daraya, Eastern Houta and the Four Towns of Al Fouah, Kafraya, Zabdani and Madaya.
De Mistura described the bombing in Quamishli as “carnage.” The suicide bombing claimed by Da’esh (ISIL) in the north-east of Syria reportedly killed dozens of people on Wednesday.
The UN Envoy said he hoped to restart peace talks at the end of August. He said he was sending his deputy Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy to Damascus, while he intended to travel to Teheran to make that the Iranian authorities “are on board”.
