Russia, UN take another stab at forming Syria’s constitutional committee
Despite real progress on the formation of a constitutional committee for Syria, challenges remain ahead of a new round of Astana talks.
Kazakhstan’s capital, Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana), is set to host another Astana format session in early August. By this time, it should be clear whether a constitutional committee for Syria will finally start to function in the near future.
The decision to form the constitutional committee was adopted at the Sochi National Dialogue Congress in January 2018. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters July 10, “If the visit of UN special envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen to Damascus speeds up the finalization of the committee’s composition and procedure, one may agree on the date.” He added, “I think that it will not take long. In early August another Astana session is due to take place.”
