UN urged to launch food airdrops to besieged Syrian towns

World powers have called on the United Nations to launch airdrops of food on besieged towns in Syria by the end of the month if aid access continues to be blocked during international talks in Vienna yesterday. But the negotiations offered little concrete action to relaunch peace talks or bolster a faltering ceasefire in the war-torn country.

Syria’s international envoy, Steffan de Mistura, said he was “still waiting for some type of concrete outcome” to the talks, “but we cannot wait too long. We want to keep the momentum.”

The international patrons of Syria's warring sides – particularly the US, allied with the opposition, and Russia, supporting the regime – appeared unable or unwilling to exert the pressure needed to stop a recent escalation in bloodshed.

Others argued that statements by US secretary of state John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov hinted at behind-the-scenes diplomatic developments, noting for the first time Mr Kerry had not said Mr Assad must step down, while Mr Lavrov said, "Moscow is not supporting Assad".

“They’ve now made room for both sides of the conflict to be equally unhappy, or happy,” said a regional diplomat close to the Russian side.

Scepticism

The call for airdrops was met with scepticism by aid workers, who say it would be technically very difficult to safely drop aid to the nearly five million Syrians in besieged areas, where people have died from starvation and lack of medical care. Sieges have been used by all groups in the war, but are most regularly employed by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Some humanitarian activists allege the move aimed to “sweep under the carpet” yet another part of Syria’s five-year war that international backers appear unable to solve.

Last week, Syrian military forces blocked UN and Red Cross convoy workers trying to enter the town of Daraya, under siege since 2012. Diplomats and aid workers said it was seen as a defiance of Russia, the regime’s main backer, which has been trying to put pressure on Mr Assad to make concessions at peace talks in Geneva.

In Vienna, the International Syria Support Group, the body of foreign powers across the globe working to bring together Syria’s warring parties for peace talks, said it would step up pressure on those who violate a ceasefire in the country.

Syria's rebels and pro-Assad forces have stepped up campaigns in strategic areas of the country's north, particularly the city of Aleppo, flouting a US-Russian brokered "cessation of hostilities" and bringing some of the bloodiest days to civilians living on both sides of a city divided between the warring factions.

Officials in Vienna say the target for restarting a fourth round of negotiations in Geneva is June 1st, according to Reuters news agency, but no official start has been set.

Walkout

Syria’s opposition delegation walked out of the last round of Geneva talks because of what it said was rising violence and the blocking of humanitarian aid.

But some members alleged the real reason for the walkout was that regional backers such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar had stepped up military aid because of concerns that the negotiations showed no clear sign that Mr Assad would be forced into a transitioned move out of power. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016