UN Special Envoy Hopes Int'l Community Will Overcome Divisions Over Syrian Settlement

MUNICH (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2019) UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen expressed hope on Sunday that countries around the world would resolve their disagreements over settling the Syrian crisis and will help the United Nations establish a political process on the conflict in Syria as a close-knit international community.

"There is a deep divide within the international community, a deep mistrust ... I do believe that when it comes to Syria there are actually a lot of common interests ... I will continue to emphasize this and hope that when we get to political process together in Geneva that we will see a united international community behind the UN and support us in that process," Pedersen said at the Munich Security Conference.

Over the course of the armed conflict in Syria, the United Nations has been providing humanitarian aid to Syria and engaged in talks both with the Syrian government and the opposition Syrian Negotiation Committee. In 2017, several rounds of negotiations on the Syrian settlement were held in Geneva under the auspices of the organization, however, the two sides to the conflict did not talk directly to each other.

The United Nations has been also helping to draft the list of the Syrian constitutional committee members.

The three-day Munich Security Conference officially ended in Germany on Sunday.