- Title: 'It cannot go on like this' says German ForMin on Syria.
- Date: 22nd November 2016
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (NOVEMBER 22, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER AND U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA, STAFFAN DE MISTURA, ARRIVING FOR DISCUSSION ENTITLED "CRISIS DIPLOMACY IN FULL SWING - FUTURE PERSPECTIVES FOR SYRIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST" CAMERA CREWS DE MISTURA / STEINMEIER TALKING TO EACH OTHER SIGN ON WALL STEINMEIER GETTING UP TO APPLAUSE AND WALKING TO PODIUM AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "The election of Donald Trump - that much is clear, ladies and gentlemen - will change the United States' foreign policy in the Middle East. In what direction, we can only speculate. In any case, there will be changes. There could also be movement in the relations between the United States and Russia. The question is whether or not a new relationship between the United States and Russia will have constructive effects on the search for a peaceful solution in the Middle East." WOMEN IN AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "Today we call on those responsible in Syria: end the attacks on civilian targets. It can't go on like that and we are thinking of the Syrian government and all those who support it, ladies and gentlemen." WOMEN IN AUDIENCE LISTENING WIDE OF DE MISTURA ADDRESSING AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA, STAFFAN DE MISTURA, SAYING: "What can happen between now and January 20 which is a long period and a brief period. We are very concerned that the temptation to actually have a military acceleration of a solution of the conflict by taking over in a brutal aggressive war what is left of eastern Aleppo could be tragic. It could be a new Vukovar and that is what we need to at any cost to avoid." AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA, STAFFAN DE MISTURA, SAYING: "What we do know is what he (Donald Trump) said and what he said was that he intended to focus as a priority on fighting Daesh (Islamic State) and that the rest would be less of a priority, let's put it like this and in that sense he could find a common ground with President Putin in Russia. Well, the only comment that I think we can do is the following: by being cautious but being frank. I think that is a very good approach. We all want to fight Daesh and we want everybody to fight Daesh together." AUDIENCE LISTENING DE MISTURA WALKING OFF TO APPLAUSE
- Embargoed: 7th December 2016 16:01
- Keywords: Syria Mideast crisis Steinmeier Mistura
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA00159J0KSN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The UN's special envoy for Syria on Tuesday (November 22) warned against 'accelerating' an already brutal conflict in eastern Aleppo, where Russian-backed Syrian forces are not far off destroying eastern Aleppo's infrastructure completely.
On the eve of Donald Trump's election victory, members of a Western-backed Syrian rebel group met U.S. officials to ask about the outlook for arms shipments they have received to fight President Bashar al-Assad.
They were told the programme would continue until the end of the year, but anything more would depend on the next U.S. administration, a rebel official at the meeting said. When Trump takes office in January, it may stop altogether.
"What can happen between now and January 20 which is a long period and a brief period. We are very concerned that the temptation to actually have a military acceleration of a solution of the conflict by taking over in a brutal aggressive war what is left of eastern Aleppo could be tragic," Staffan de Mistura said at a forum on the crisis in Berlin.
It is too soon to judge what policy U.S. President Donald Trump will have on Syria's civil war but Trump has indicated he could abandon the rebels to focus on fighting Islamic State which control territory in eastern and central Syria.
He might even cooperate against IS with Russia, Assad's most powerful ally, which has been bombing the rebels for over a year in western Syria.
"What we do know is what he (Donald Trump) said and what he said was that he intended to focus as a priority on fighting Daesh and that the rest would be less of a priority, let's put it like this and in that sense he could find a common ground with President Putin in Russia," de Mistura said.
"The question is whether or not a new relationship between the United States and Russia will have constructive effects on the search for a peaceful solution in the Middle East," Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steimeier added.
With the collapse of a ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia in September, U.S. officials considered military options including direct U.S. military action such as air strikes on Syrian military installations.
But rebels say there has been no big shift since then.
Were the United States to abandon the rebels, their military fortunes would hinge on Saudi, Qatari and Turkish support.
Despite all their differences, opposition groups in Syria agree that there cannot be a future with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the conference hosted by his Social Democrat party.
Steinmeier repeated his call for an end to the bombardment of civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo and other parts of the country, and said a transition plan was needed to get to a political solution for ending the civil war there.
He said there were discussions about bringing humanitarian relief supplies into Aleppo via Turkey, but there were no guarantees for success. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None