Syria Peace Talks on Pause in Geneva

The United Nations on Wednesday temporarily paused peace talks in Geneva aimed at putting an end to the war in Syria as pro-government forces, supported by heavy Russian airstrikes, dramatically escalated an offensive on Aleppo.

“I have concluded, frankly, that after the first week of preparatory talks there is more work to be done, not only by us but by the stakeholders,” U.N. special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said Wednesday evening, the New York Times reports.

De Mistura announced a three-week pause in the Geneva talks, saying immediate pressure was needed from the rival sides’ international backers, Russia and the United States.

“I have indicated from the first day that I won’t talk for the sake of talking,” the envoy said.

The talks in Geneva mark the first attempt in two years to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria.

According to an anonymous senior U.N. official, de Mistura suspended talks after Russia’s military escalation in northern Syria, Reuters reports.

“I think the special envoy decided to suspend the talks because the (United Nations) did not want to be associated with the Russian escalation in Syria, which risks undermining the talks completely,” the official said.

“The stepped-up airstrikes gain the government ground, but also aim at humiliating the opposition on the ground and in Geneva.”

While both the opposition and de Mistura have said a ceasefire is essential to moving forward with the talks, Russia has refused to suspend its airstrikes.

On Wednesday, massive Russian bombardments helped pro-government forces end a three-and-a-half year siege of the Shiite towns of Nubul and Zahra.

“I don’t see why these airstrikes should be stopped,” said Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, adding that the raids were targeting militants linked to al-Qaida.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on Bashar al-Assad’s government and its supporters on Wednesday to halt attacks on opposition areas, particularly in Aleppo, and to end sieges of civilian populations in accordance with a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in December 2015.

“It is past time for them to meet existing obligations and restore the international community’s confidence in their intentions of supporting a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis,” Kerry said.

Pro-Government Forces Break Siege of Two Shiite Towns

The Syrian army and its allied militias broke a three-year rebel siege of two Shiite towns in northern Aleppo, Reuters reports.

The Government’s recapture of Nubul and Zahra comes as part of a major offensive, supported by heavy Russian airstrikes, aimed at encircling Syria’s northernmost city and cutting vital rebel supply lines from Turkey.

Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that “less than 3km separate the regime from cutting all routes to opposition-held Aleppo.”

“It (the Syrian government) did in three days what it failed to do in 3-1/2 years,” he said.

Pro-government forces also on Wednesday waged offensives against rebel forces south of Aleppo and against militants from the so-called Islamic State toward the city’s east.

Aleppo, at one time Syria’s commercial hub, is divided between government-controlled areas to the west and opposition-controlled areas in the east.

Syrian government forces, with the help of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and Iranian-backed militias, and supported by heavy Russian aerial support, have made substantial gains on the ground in the past week.

After the breaking of the siege of Nubul and Zahra, the Syrian army now has direct access to Kurdish-controlled Afrin and to border areas controlled by Turkish-backed insurgents.

According to defense strategists, the two towns could become operational bases for pro-government forces in their efforts to make wider territorial gains north of Aleppo and to encircle the city’s rebel-held areas.

Syria Donor Conference Aims to Raise $9 Billion

World leaders are set to meet at a donor conference in London on Thursday in an attempt to raise $9 billion in aid for those affected by the crisis in Syria.

Some 70 leaders will attend the conference, the fourth of its kind, which is aimed at creating employment and education opportunities for Syrian refugees.

The $9 billion Thursday’s conference aims to raise is made up of a U.N.-coordinated appeal by dozens of aid agencies and additional requests made by regional governments, the BBC reports.

A similar appeal in 2015 failed to meet half of its target goal, collecting only 43 percent of the $2.9 billion pledged.

The U.N. children’s agency has said that $1.4 billion in aid is needed to take immediate action to combat what is quickly becoming “a lost generation” both in Syria and in exile.

One of the conference’s aims is to ensure that all Syrian refugee children, in addition to local children in regional host countries, have access to schools by 2017. Some 4.6 million Syrians are registered as refugees with the U.N.

Labor markets in Syria’s neighboring countries have been severely affected by the massive influx of people and host governments are becoming increasingly reluctant to offer residency and work permits.

Recommended Reads

• WBUR: Peace Talks for Syria
• Physicians for Human Rights: Syria’s Neighbors Must Let Doctors Practice
• The Washington Post: After Four Months, Russia’s Campaign in Syria Is Proving Successful for Moscow
• The Washington Post: As Syria Burns, Turkey’s Kurdish Problem Is Getting Worse
• New York Times Live: Syria Peace Talks Will Include Women, but Will Their Voices Be Heard?
• The Guardian: Syria Refugee Crisis: Six Charts That Show How Europe Is Struggling to Respond

Top image: Syrian refugee children attend a class on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, at a makeshift school set up in a tent at an informal tented settlement near the Syrian border on the outskirts of Mafraq, Jordan. International aid to the victims of Syria’s five-year-old war, including millions forced to flee their homes, has persistently fallen short, but organizers of the Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, annual Syria pledging conference hope for greater donor generosity this time around, despite a record ask of close to $9 billion for 2016. (Associated Press)