Press release

Foreign Secretary concerned at lack of progress in Syria talks

The Foreign Secretary has described the failure to establish a new round of Geneva talks as a 'serious setback'.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Speaking today the Foreign Secretary William Hague said:

The failure to agree an agenda for future rounds of talks on the Geneva process is a serious setback in the search for peace in Syria, and the responsibility for it lies squarely with the Assad regime.

Lakhdar Brahimi’s comments at his press conference this morning made clear that the regime refused to discuss the issue of a Transitional Governing Body, an issue that is at the heart of the negotiation and an essential means of ending the conflict.

This cannot be the end of the road. With the war in Syria causing more death and destruction every day, we owe it to the people of Syria to do all we can to make progress towards a political solution. So we will continue to give our strong support to Lakhdar Brahimi and the Geneva process.

It is also now more urgent than ever to move forward with a UN Security Council Resolution that addresses the appalling humanitarian suffering in Syria. The people in Syria’s besieged areas and the many parts of the country not receiving any aid cannot wait.

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Published 15 February 2014