Efforts to solve Syrian crisis should be taken at G20 leaders’ level

The conflict in Syria has grown to such proportions that efforts aimed at its settlement should be taken not at the UN Security Council, but at the level of world leaders, Australian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gary Quinlan who is presiding over the Security Council in September believes. “It’s clear that we have to address this at a higher level - a leaders’ level - at the G20,” he told reporters on Wednesday. According to him, major attention at the forum is to be paid to the preparation for the Geneva-2 peace conference on Syria. The diplomat said that he understood those people who in this situation may now ask whether or not the Security Council was failing to meet its responsibilities as a result of its stalemate. “So to answer the question: the council is not abrogating its role, at least not yet, but the geopolitics has shifted” to hopes for talks at the G20, said the Security Council president. As such, he said, the focus has shifted to the G20, particularly with the Secretary-General in attendance, as well as the leadership of the Council’s P-5 membership and other countries. While Syria is not on the G20’s agenda, it was clear the issue would be discussed. “I think most of us have concluded that just for the moment, it would be not be productive or useful to have a Security Council meeting in a formal way because it will go nowhere.” The G20 summits are in the first place a venue for discussions on economics and global development. However, the participants of the forum in St. Petersburg in recent days have announced their readiness to discuss at it the situation in Syria as well. In an interview with Russia’s TV Channel One and the Associated Press, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he could propose to “devote some time to the discussion of the Syrian problem.” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also said this week he intended to raise the Syrian issue during meetings with the summit participants.