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STORY: UN / SYRIA
TRT: 03:44
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 12 APRIL 2017, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
12 APRIL 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, Russia’s Ambassador
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“Two paths lie before us. One is more outrages, more destruction and death, stoked by regional and international divisions, or even escalation and deeper confrontation. That is what all Syrians fear, and I share their fears. But there is another path: more serious discussion, a real de-escalation and ceasefire, and a rallying behind the only way out of the Syrian nightmare. We urgently need a consensus among major stakeholders to support completely the UN-led negotiation process, and this is the occasion for doing it.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations:
“Russia’s credibility and reputation across the world have been poisoned by its toxic association with Assad. They have chosen to side with a murderous, barbaric criminal, rather than with their international peers. They have chosen the wrong side of history. However, it is not too late for Russia to change course. It is not too late for Russia to fulfil its responsibilities as a permanent member of this Security Council. It is not too late for Russia to use, finally, its influence over the regime to bring this conflict to an end.”
7. Med shot, de Mistura
8. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir Safronkov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“The statement of the British representative, Mr. Rycroft, showed that the only thing he is thinking of is to complicate your efforts, Mr. de Mistura, to prevent the political process from unfolding; to bring into the Security Council a confrontational attitude and the essence is, and everyone at the UN knows this very well, that you are afraid, that you’ve been losing sleep over the fact that we might be working together with the United States, cooperating with the United States, that is what you fear. You are doing everything to make sure that this kind of cooperation be undermined. This is precisely why. Look at me when I am speaking. Don’t look away, why are you looking away?”
9. Med shot, delegates
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“It is long past time for Russia to stop covering for Assad. It is long past time for Russia to push seriously for peace, and not continue to be part of the problem. The road to peace is long; we won’t get a political solution overnight. But we can start by working together to actually de-escalate the conflict.”
11. Med shot, delegates
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar Ja’afari, Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations:
“How can a sane and reasonable person accept the lies and the accusations against my country Syria? Accusations of the use of chemical weapons that we do even possess; we do not have these weapons and this had been confirmed in the statement of the JIM in June 2014 before this exact Council. Siegrid Kaag said in June 2014 that Syria no longer had any chemical weapons.”
13. Pan right, Council
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told the Security Council today (12 Apr) that “two paths lie before us” in Syrian conflict, “one is more outrages, more destruction and death” or “more serious discussion, a real de-escalation and ceasefire, and a rallying behind the only way out of the Syrian nightmare.”
De Mistura said “we urgently need a consensus among major stakeholders to support completely the UN-led negotiation process, and this is the occasion for doing it.”
The Special envoy noted that before the events of last week, modest but incremental progress had been made towards a negotiated agreement during the fifth round of Intra-Syrian talks in Geneva. A sixth round of talks is planned for May.
The United Kingdom’s Ambassador told the Council “Russia’s credibility and reputation across the world have been poisoned by its toxic association with (Bashar al-) Assad. They have chosen to side with a murderous, barbaric criminal, rather than with their international peers. They have chosen the wrong side of history.”
However, Rycroft said, “it is not too late for Russia to change course. It is not too late for Russia to fulfil its responsibilities as a permanent member of this Security Council. It is not too late for Russia to use, finally, its influence over the regime to bring this conflict to an end.”
Responding to Rycroft, Russia’s Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov, said “the statement of the British representative, Mr. Rycroft, showed that the only thing he is thinking of is to complicate your efforts, Mr. de Mistura, to prevent the political process from unfolding; to bring into the Security Council a confrontational attitude and the essence is, and everyone at the UN knows this very well, that you are afraid, that you’ve been losing sleep over the fact that we might be working together with the United States, cooperating with the United States, that is what you fear. You are doing everything to make sure that this kind of cooperation be undermined.”
United States’ Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said it was “long past time for Russia to stop covering for Assad. It is long past time for Russia to push seriously for peace, and not continue to be part of the problem.”
Haley said “the road to peace is long; we won’t get a political solution overnight. But we can start by working together to actually de-escalate the conflict.”
For his part, Syria’s Ambassador, Bashar Ja’afari, questioned the accusations of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government.
Ja’afari said “how can a sane and reasonable person accept the lies and the accusations against my country Syria?”
He said “we do not have these weapons and this had been confirmed in the statement of the JIM (Joint Investigative Mechanism” in June 2014 before this exact Council. Siegrid Kaag said in June 2014 that Syria no longer had any chemical weapons.”
