Astana talks, an important step

How was the meeting on Gambia and Syria? What did you get out of the Syrian meeting? What was the outcome?

The President [of the Security Council] will say a few words. It was a good meeting.

So it was more about the situation on the ground or Astana?

Both. The situation on the ground and Astana. The fact that Astana should be a step towards the meeting led by Staffan de Mistura and based on the key UN recommendations. I would say that there was a good spirit at the table of the Security Council to consider that Astana should be an important step towards the UN meeting led by Staffan de Mistura early February. I think on this there is a wide agreement.

Do you think the cease fire should be respected in order for Astana to be a success?

Of course. With many of my colleagues, I said that the cease fire should be respected, which is not the case as we speak, it should be much better respected, the humanitarian access should also be much better than it is of course. The overall direction of the Security Council is to say let’s make of Astana an important step towards coming back to a UN process based on UN resolutions and the Geneva communiqué.