On Monday 15 January, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and members of the delegation of the Syrian Negotiation Commission recognised "the need to urgently and rapidly advance towards a negotiated political transition in Syria, mediated by the UN in Geneva and based on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254".
According to a press release from the European External Action Service, Mogherini confirmed the EU's "full and continued" support to the UN-led mediation process, which it "considers as the primary process to achieve an intra-Syrian political solution". "Only a UN-brokered process mandated by the UN Security Council will be seen by the Syrian people as impartial, with the required international legitimacy", she added.
While a new round of negotiations is planned in Geneva on 21 January, discussions to try and find a solution to the Syrian political crisis could take place in Sochi on 29-30 January under the aegis of Russia, Turkey and Iran.
Mogherini also underlined "the importance to have an inclusive political process and transition able to shape Syria's future unity and reconciliation". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)