After more than four years of slaughter, the Syrian conflict is a shameful symbol of the international community’s divisions and failure.

I am profoundly disappointed that this Council’s resolutions on Syria have not been implemented – neither on ending the violence nor on easing humanitarian suffering or combatting terrorism and foreign fighters.

Syria is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, as you heard yesterday in harrowing detail from
the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.

At least a quarter-million Syrians have been killed.

Almost half the country’s people -- 12 million men, women and children -- have been forced to flee their homes.  In a massive cross-border exodus, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq are hosting an ever growing number of refugees, and increasing numbers of Syrians [are] making desperate flights across the Mediterranean in so-called “death boats”.

Atrocious crimes are now almost an hourly occurrence, fed by a lack of accountability for the major human rights violations committed over the past four years and through decades of repression.

The Syrian people have been exposed to chemical weapons, which should have been relegated to the past – and to new, indiscriminate killing devices such as barrel bombs and hell cannons.

The conflict has given rise to terrorist groups such as Da’esh and Al Nusra Front, and fuelled sectarianism and radicalization throughout and beyond the region.

And funding for humanitarian activities continues to be outpaced by the gargantuan and ever-growing scale of needs.

The situation is a clear threat to international peace and security that should compel us all to consider what more we can do to end the carnage and uphold our responsibilities.

It was in this context that on 28 March I instructed my Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Staffan de Mistura, to intensify efforts by the United Nations to find a political settlement to the conflict.  Specifically, I asked him to work to operationalize the Geneva Communiqué.

The Security Council unanimously endorsed the Geneva Communiqué in its resolution 2118.  The document contains principles and guidelines to end the violence and launch a Syrian-led political process leading to a transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.

The Communiqué remains the only internationally agreed basis for a political settlement to the Syrian conflict, and was the foundation for recent initiatives such as the Cairo and Moscow processes.

Mr. de Mistura will brief you on his consultations. I would like to highlight four key points.

First, Mr. de Mistura’s description of the state of the Syrian crisis is a synthesis of what we heard from an inclusive and representative group of Syrian and non-Syrian stakeholders.

Second, amidst gaping fault lines, there are points of consensus upon which a credible political process can be constructed.

Syrians and external actors alike possess a shared sense of concern regarding the threshold that the conflict has now reached.

No one wants to risk the chaos of an uncontrolled transition in Damascus. All reject a future Syria divided along sectarian lines. Many Syrians warned that the country is entering a cycle of fragmentation and radicalization from which it will be hard to exit.

Our Syrian interlocutors also lamented that their country is caught in a regional proxy war that is beyond Syrians’ ability to resolve by themselves.

Almost all pointed to an urgent need for the international community to act now if we want to save and preserve what is left of Syria. As the situation deteriorates, Syrians predict that the prospects for achieving a political solution will also recede.

Third, the Syrians with whom we spoke share many of the same aspirations.

They want to protect the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, and to determine their own future free from external intervention.

They consider it impossible to return to the past.

They reject violent extremism and terrorism, and support a non-sectarian, multi-confessional and inclusive society.

And they yearn to build a genuinely democratic Syria based on human rights and the rule of law.

Fourth and finally, the consultations made clear that the major stumbling block in the political process remains the issue of forming a Transitional Governing Body, or TGB, with full executive powers that can create a suitable environment and safety for all during the transition.

The TGB is the top priority for the opposition, while the Syrian government has told us that such an institution would be unconstitutional.

Although difficult, these are not insurmountable obstacles and differences.  Mr. de Mistura will therefore present a proposal to launch a political process aimed at enabling Syrians to negotiate a framework agreement on how to implement all aspects of the Geneva Communiqué.

The main goal of these preparatory negotiations will be to reach intra-Syrian agreement on the elements of the Geneva Communiqué, including on the issue of the TGB, as well as to effectively fight terrorism.

I stand ready to convene a high-level international conference to endorse any recommendations or agreement that this Syrian-led political process may reach.

The status quo in Syria is unacceptable. Some argue that we must wait to end this nightmare until there is a more propitious alignment of regional and international circumstances. This would be both immoral and irresponsible.

We must not condemn the Syrian people to even deeper despair.  We must not condemn the region to unending turmoil.

Today I ask the Security Council to endorse Mr. de Mistura’s recommendations and work with the Syrian parties to convince them to participate constructively in this proposed process.

Just as important, the Council has a responsibility to support the political process by acting to de-escalate the conflict.

We must ensure that these preparatory negotiations are meaningful and not cynically exploited as a license to continue the killing.

I urge the Security Council, Syria’s neighbours and regional sponsors of the Syrian parties to stem all flows of arms and foreign fighters pouring into the country. 

While ending the bloodshed remains primarily the responsibility of the Syrian parties, especially President Bashar al-Assad, there is much that the region and the international community can do to starve the fire of its fuel.

We must also build on the political momentum that has been generated by the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 countries.  The unity that generated that agreement can help point the way towards conflict resolution in Syria and greater stability across the region.

For the moment, the greatest obstacle to ending the Syrian war is the notion that it can be won militarily. It is our failure to act with a unified voice that perpetuates this harmful illusion and allows the Syrian parties to think that there is some alternative other than coming to the negotiating table.

Today, Mr. de Mistura and I will outline a way forward to reach the political solution that all claim to support.  I urge you to give this proposal your full support.  If you do not, the world expects this body to present a viable alternative.

Thank you.