A military solution to the Syrian civil war is an illusion, United Nations special envoy for the country Geir Pedersen said on Monday, urging for a political solution and talks.
Ahead of renewed peace talks in Geneva next week, Pedersen appealed to all parties and key international actors to work with the U.N. to help advance a political solution to end the country's 11-year war.
"As the conflict in Syria enters its 12th year – marking another grim milestone – Syrians continue to suffer in profound ways, and the hardship is only deepening," said Pedersen in a statement welcoming the new talks.
Last week, Pedersen's office announced that the talks involving the Constitutional Committee set after a U.N. Security Council resolution will resume in Geneva for five days from March 21.
"The way out of this impasse is for the parties to forge a political solution that can end the suffering of the Syrian people, restore Syria's sovereignty and enable the Syrian people to determine their own future," Pedersen said.
"My sincere appeal to the Syrian parties and all key international actors is to work with the United Nations effort in order to help advance this shared goal."
Stalemate
He noted that there had been no shifts in the front lines for two years.
"We face a continuing stalemate, and at the same time, we see growing humanitarian needs and a socioeconomic collapse," said Pedersen.
He said the way out of the current impasse is for the parties to forge a political solution that "can end the suffering of the Syrian people, restore Syria's sovereignty and enable the Syrian people to determine their own future."
He said such a solution is doable with the proper political will.
"I am pleased that the Constitutional Committee meets again soon in Geneva, and I believe it needs to move substantively forward on its mandate," said Pedersen.
The last talks, which involved both the regime and the opposition, ended in Geneva on Oct. 22, 2021, and Pedersen at the time described them as a "disappointment."
He told the U.N. Security Council in New York on Feb. 25: "Any of a number of flashpoints could ignite a broader conflagration. We continue to see mutual shelling, skirmishes, IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and security incidents across front lines in the northwest, the northeast and the southwest."
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to the U.N.
11 years of war
Eleven years have passed since the March 15 popular uprising in 2011, when a group of primary school students in Syria's southern city of Daraa wrote "Next it's your turn, doctor!" on their school building wall, referring to Assad.
The Assad regime, which declared the civilians who wanted a change of power through peaceful demonstrations as "terrorists," mobilized its soldiers and security forces to suppress the protests. This move led to peaceful public demonstrations turning into a civil war.
With Russia's participation in the war in September 2015, the course of the civil war turned in favor of the regime that regained control of most of the lands through intense attacks and blockades.
On Jan. 23-24, 2017, the first Astana meeting was held under the initiation of Russia and Turkey. Three years later, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on a cease-fire in Idlib, with Turkey and Russia as guarantor countries observing the cease-fire for all military actions.