Syria – Gentiloni stresses need to revive negotiations

The International Syria Support Group (ISSG) foreign ministers’ meeting took place in Vienna today. The aim of the meeting was to consolidate the ceasefire and relaunch the political process against a backdrop of deteriorating conditions on the ground.
  
In Vienna, where he co-chaired a ministerial meeting on Libya with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni stressed the need to “revive Syrian negotiations, allow humanitarian aid into besieged cities, and give substance to the ceasefire … I think that’s a goal that can be attained at this meeting, also based on the joint commitment of the U.S. and Russia and of all of the Support Group.”
 
Given the current circumstances, the international community should first and foremost turn its attention to the humanitarian situation. “We must re-allow access for humanitarian aid into the 18 cities under siege, mainly by the regime, but also by some of opposition members,” said Minister Gentiloni.