Brahimi warns Syria elections could end talks
Brahimi expressed concern that elections in Syria would cause the opposition to abandon talks with Bashar al-Assad's Government.
UN Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned Thursday that if Syria goes forward with presidential elections, it would likely mean the end of reconciliation talks with the Syrian opposition.
"If there is an election, then my suspicion is that the opposition, all the oppositions, will probably not be interested in talking to the government," Brahimi told reporters at the UN in New York Thursday, after briefing the UN Security Council on the situation.
"We would like the help of the Council and all those who can help to make sure that if and when we have a third round it will be a little bit more productive than the second one," Brahimi said.
But Russia on Thursday blocked a draft UN Security Council statement that expressed the body’s support for Brahimi’s Syria mediation efforts, and would have endorsed his call for parallel talks on ending terrorism and a political transition.
