This morning I had about half an hour trilateral telephone conference with (Joint Special Envoy) Kofi Annan and Nabil ElAraby, Secretary General of the League of Arab States and myself.

Basically all three of us share the same concerns and same priorities and same approaches. Our priority is that first of all, all violence must stop, either by Government forces [or] opposition forces.

I have very strongly urged Kofi Annan to ensure that there must be an immediate ceasefire. First by -- if that can be agreed immediately at the same time, that would be fine -- Government forces then the opposition should also stop their fighting. Then there should be [an] inclusive political solution. That I think he will do.

I have also asked him, in the wake of Valerie Amos’s visit on humanitarian grounds, if he would also urge President Assad to facilitate all this humanitarian assistance and access. I believe that all of us agree on the same approaches. And he is going to meet tomorrow morning President Assad in Damascus and he will be meeting civil society leaders and whoever he may think necessary. He will be engaging broadly with the government officials, civil society, and humanitarian community, and I think this is what he is doing. Then he will come out of Damascus, I think, Sunday. Then he will try to visit the region, but it is not yet decided. I’m not aware of his full and detailed trip schedule. What I know, what he told me, is that he is going to meet tomorrow morning with Assad.

Outside of Syria, he will be engaging with opposition forces, opposition leaders.

On Valerie Amos’s visit, you have already read her statement. Yesterday we had a teleconference with Valerie Amos before she left Syria and she went to Turkey and she visited a camp of displaced people in the Turkish side of the border. She met Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey.

According to what she said she had visited Homs and Baba Amr. The places she visited were terrible, according to her. She was extremely concerned. There were no people. Almost nobody left. They must have relocated somewhere. The city has been completely destroyed. This is quite a serious and alarming situation in terms of humanitarian assistance and human rights.

She proposed to have some robust and sustainable humanitarian access. She proposed a certain humanitarian framework which can be done through a letter of understanding. She proposed a draft. She couldn’t have a full agreement before her departure. But Foreign Minister al-Moallem said that they will consider this matter. But I think that basically they have agreed that there should be a humanitarian assessment mission to be deployed. That is what they have agreed. We will follow up as soon as she comes back. She comes back I think tonight. We will have follow-up discussions with Valerie Amos.

These are some things which I can brief you on. Basically I am encouraged by the very close coordination between me, my office, Kofi Annan, and ElAraby of the League of Arab States. League of Arab States Foreign Ministers are meeting tomorrow in Cairo. He [Kofi Annan] has already met many Ambassadors and Foreign Ministers there and he will continue, and he will also visit some key places to have some stronger support from those countries in the region.

As you may know, on Monday, there will be a Ministerial Meeting in the Security Council where I will participate. Many Foreign Ministers are scheduled to participate.