News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

SdeM: Sorry for changing hours but you can imagine there have been a lot of internal discussions and there has been a lot verification with the field as well. So I will say a few words then as usual give the floor to Jan Egeland and we will be taking some questions. Let me start by saying that the…

RER: Good afternoon. This has been a particularly grim week, but also eventful. There has been considerable loss of life in Syria, in Urum al-Kubra, in Khan Tuman and in Deir ez-Zor. Urum al-Kubra and Khan Tuman are particularly despicable acts. Many have died who have devoted themselves to help the…

Geneva, 6 October 2016 SdeM: I am here with my friend and colleague Jan Egeland, because we have just ended an important, in our opinion, Humanitarian Task Force meeting, so will first elaborate, at length actually, about where we are in the situation and then give the floor to Jan Egeland to…

SdeM: Good afternoon everyone. Let me give you some few general comments. I will also take three questions, not more, because I am going to the airport straight from here, but Jan Egeland will be at your disposal to go much more into an analysis and answering points, in particular because we are…

SdeM: Good afternoon. We had just now the Humanitarian Task Force, and I must say, it was particularly focused on what has been the lessons learned from the medical evacuation that did not, unfortunately, take place from eastern Aleppo. Regarding the political aspect, political security, you are…

The fifth war winter is starting in Syria. There is no doubt it will be the worst in this cruel war, and I fear it will be a real killer in too many places. Because in spite of a massive humanitarian operation, the largest in the world, ongoing in and around Syria at the moment, with hundreds and…

We just finished the meeting of the Humanitarian Task Force. It was another very somber report by our field personnel in Syria and outside, from Turkey. In the month of November, when we really needed to preposition a lot in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, cross-front line, we only could do one…

President of the Security Council: Good after noon, we had a very substantial and quite long discussion this morning on several issues, starting with Syria followed by Iran and then the situation in Ukraine. I wanted to make sure that I was able to stand here now next to Staffan de Mistura, the…

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is actively engaged in diplomatic efforts to ensure a successful confirmation of arrangements for the convening of intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva. We can confirm that letters have been sent today, and also that consultations are…

I have been having today, three meetings, one with Minister Lavrov, one with Minister Shoygu and now with the Deputy Foreign Minister Gatilov. They were focusing on the following points: The first one was Astana, because we are very keen, all of us, that Astana proceeds. The issue that they are…

Q: How do you “evaluate” these talks and how do you tell that you have achieved a mutual understanding on particular questions. SdM: I had a very useful intense meeting with Minister Shoygu and his team. The main points were the Astana discussions at the moment and then the Geneva discussions taking…

Thank you for all of you to be here, I’m convinced it will be worthwhile. We are going to give a serious try. This round is taking place again at the time when we want to give a chance to the Syrian people, to the Syria parties to try to have some type of dialogue leading more beyond than just a…