The US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, said that the Assad regime “is intent on exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to its own strategic political and military advantage.
In remarks at a UN Security Council briefing on the situation in Syria on Monday, Craft said: “We must collectively ask how the Council can help restore stability to Syria.
“The answer lies in advancing all tracks of Resolution 2254,” Craft added. “This Council must make every effort to ensure the Assad regime reverses its destructive pattern of behavior against its own people and agrees to a comprehensive, enduring, and verifiable nationwide ceasefire.”
She called for the Assad regime to “protect the fate of thousands of civilians held arbitrarily in detention centers.” She reiterated that the UN must be at the center of any effort to establish a ceasefire.
“Again, full implementation of Resolution 2254. That is what will move Syria toward a future of peace, prosperity, and dignity for all its people. And so, that is what we must pursue as a Council.”
UN Resolution 2254 of December 18, 2015, calls for an immediate cessation of attacks against civilian targets. It urges UN Security Council member states to support efforts to establish a ceasefire and engage in an ongoing political process to achieve a full democratic transition in Syria by establishing a transitional governing body with full executive powers. (Source: SNC’s Media Department)