Uncompromising Negotiations
Supporters of the peace plan entered the week with momentum. On Tuesday, top leaders from the Arab League joined U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and several of her counterparts before the 15-nation Council to pressure a handful of skeptical members to endorse the initiative, which the League drafted on January 22nd following a three-and-a-half week monitoring mission in Syria.
Judging by the media blitz outside Security Council chambers, the star offensive achieved its goal of publicizing Ambassador Vitaly Churkin’s opposition to the measure ahead of an impending vote.
Negotiations on the UNSC resolution began last Wednesday in earnest with co-sponsors including nine Arab states, a majority of the Security Council and Turkey. By late Thursday evening, an amended draft had been “put in blue,” a step which signals that a resolution is likely ready to be put to a vote. Many UN envoys at the meeting that night spoke of the possibility, even likelihood, of a “political compromise.”
The mood outside Council chambers ahead of the Saturday morning vote, however, did not suggest compromise. French Ambassador Gérard Araud went on the defense when asked about whispers of “last minute” Russian amendments to the resolution. “This text is simple. It is for the Arab League’s plan. Nothing more, nothing less. We’re not going to move from that. And we vote today.”
Ambassador Churkin rushed past reporters, declining to entertain questions about amendments, while U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice offered one word, “unacceptable.”
Following an hour-long delay – which sources attributed to eleventh-hour negotiations between the Council’s five permanent members – all fifteen envoys filed into open chambers, where they could be seen on UNTV huddling into small groups. Leaks indicated the huddles were last ditch efforts to deter two of the permanent members from using their vetoes.
After Beijing and Moscow’s representatives raised their hands to block the resolution, delegations took turns sounding off. Ambassador Rice called the vetoes “disgusting.” Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari asked his American colleague if her disgust applied to the 60 vetoes the U.S. had cast in the Council blocking peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
What Went Wrong?
Outside chambers, envoys spoke candidly with reporters. UK Ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall Grant explained the dilemma his Arab and Western allies faced going into the meeting. Russia had apparently requested to “water down” the text – the content of which Mr. Grant said Assad had essentially accepted three months ago as part of an Arab League action plan – and push back the vote by three days. Mr. Grant said the request was unacceptable, particularly amid fresh reports of a massacre in the city of Homs. In other words, Russian stalling at a time when action was most needed, he said, led sponsors of the draft to insist on an immediate vote.
Russian Ambassador Churkin was surprised at the reaction of Mr. Grant and other of the resolution’s supporters, saying that Russia’s amendments did in no way come at “the last minute.”
“Rather bizarre interpretations of the Russian Federation” are becoming a trend in the Council, he said.
Justifying his veto, Mr. Churkin pointed to two “key amendments” that co-sponsors refused to negotiate on. First, that which called on Syrian troops to pull out of cities, but made no mention of the armed opposition. He wanted language telling the two groups to pull out “in conjunction.” Second was the amendment on the political transition’s timetable. Mr. Churkin sought more flexibility with this in order to guard against the possibility of Western countries resorting to excessive measures, should Damascus fail to meet deadlines.
“The Security Council is not the only diplomatic tool on this planet,” he said, adding that there are other ways to resolve international conflicts. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to meet with President Assad on Tuesday to broker a political solution.
Photo: Alessio Romenzi/AFP/Getty
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Syria Negotiations Fall Flat... Again
February 6, 2012
Uncompromising Negotiations
Supporters of the peace plan entered the week with momentum. On Tuesday, top leaders from the Arab League joined U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and several of her counterparts before the 15-nation Council to pressure a handful of skeptical members to endorse the initiative, which the League drafted on January 22nd following a three-and-a-half week monitoring mission in Syria.
Judging by the media blitz outside Security Council chambers, the star offensive achieved its goal of publicizing Ambassador Vitaly Churkin’s opposition to the measure ahead of an impending vote.
Negotiations on the UNSC resolution began last Wednesday in earnest with co-sponsors including nine Arab states, a majority of the Security Council and Turkey. By late Thursday evening, an amended draft had been “put in blue,” a step which signals that a resolution is likely ready to be put to a vote. Many UN envoys at the meeting that night spoke of the possibility, even likelihood, of a “political compromise.”
The mood outside Council chambers ahead of the Saturday morning vote, however, did not suggest compromise. French Ambassador Gérard Araud went on the defense when asked about whispers of “last minute” Russian amendments to the resolution. “This text is simple. It is for the Arab League’s plan. Nothing more, nothing less. We’re not going to move from that. And we vote today.”
Ambassador Churkin rushed past reporters, declining to entertain questions about amendments, while U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice offered one word, “unacceptable.”
Following an hour-long delay – which sources attributed to eleventh-hour negotiations between the Council’s five permanent members – all fifteen envoys filed into open chambers, where they could be seen on UNTV huddling into small groups. Leaks indicated the huddles were last ditch efforts to deter two of the permanent members from using their vetoes.
After Beijing and Moscow’s representatives raised their hands to block the resolution, delegations took turns sounding off. Ambassador Rice called the vetoes “disgusting.” Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari asked his American colleague if her disgust applied to the 60 vetoes the U.S. had cast in the Council blocking peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
What Went Wrong?
Outside chambers, envoys spoke candidly with reporters. UK Ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall Grant explained the dilemma his Arab and Western allies faced going into the meeting. Russia had apparently requested to “water down” the text – the content of which Mr. Grant said Assad had essentially accepted three months ago as part of an Arab League action plan – and push back the vote by three days. Mr. Grant said the request was unacceptable, particularly amid fresh reports of a massacre in the city of Homs. In other words, Russian stalling at a time when action was most needed, he said, led sponsors of the draft to insist on an immediate vote.
Russian Ambassador Churkin was surprised at the reaction of Mr. Grant and other of the resolution’s supporters, saying that Russia’s amendments did in no way come at “the last minute.”
“Rather bizarre interpretations of the Russian Federation” are becoming a trend in the Council, he said.
Justifying his veto, Mr. Churkin pointed to two “key amendments” that co-sponsors refused to negotiate on. First, that which called on Syrian troops to pull out of cities, but made no mention of the armed opposition. He wanted language telling the two groups to pull out “in conjunction.” Second was the amendment on the political transition’s timetable. Mr. Churkin sought more flexibility with this in order to guard against the possibility of Western countries resorting to excessive measures, should Damascus fail to meet deadlines.
“The Security Council is not the only diplomatic tool on this planet,” he said, adding that there are other ways to resolve international conflicts. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to meet with President Assad on Tuesday to broker a political solution.
Photo: Alessio Romenzi/AFP/Getty
