Urging Parties to Exercise Restraint in North-Eastern Syria, Secretary-General Stresses Civilians, Infrastructure Must Be Protected at All Times

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Secretary-General is following with great concern recent statements regarding north-eastern Syria, in particular the risk to civilians from any potential military actions.  He calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint.

The Secretary-General emphasizes that civilians and civilian infrastructure need to be protected at all times and that sustained, unimpeded and safe humanitarian access to civilians in need must be guaranteed in order to allow the United Nations and its humanitarian partners to continue to carry out their critical work in northern Syria.

The Secretary-General reiterates that there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict.  The only sustainable solution is a United Nations-facilitated political process pursuant to Security Council resolution 2254 (2015).