UN envoy urges 'step for step' approach towards Syria solution

UN special envoy Geir Pedersen has called for a "step for step" approach in finding a political solution to Syria's conflict, following his tour of Europe, the US and Arab states.

"I think there is a possibility now to start to explore what I call 'a step for step' approach, where you put on the table steps that is defined with precisions, that is verifiable, that hopefully can start to build some trust," he told reporters in Damascus on Sunday.

"My message is that there is another possibility to start to explore possible avenues, to start to move forward on this process," he said.

Pedersen has toured all the main foreign players with a stake in Syria's conflict.

"I think we should now analyse not only the Arabs but also the American position, the Europeans, the Turkish, the Russians, the Iranians," the UN envoy said.

Several rounds of United Nations-brokered negotiations in Geneva since 2019 between the government and opposition aimed at forging a new constitution have so far failed.

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A decade of conflict

With major fighting having subsided since 2020, Damascus has made inroads into easing its international isolation, especially with fellow Arab states.

The war in Syria is estimated to have killed nearly half a million people and displaced millions more since it began with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011.

It quickly spiralled into a complex conflict that pulled in numerous actors, including militant groups and foreign powers.

Throughout the civil war, the UN has been striving to nurture a political resolution.

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