Atlantic Council: The situation in Syria will continue to deteriorate if Washington and Europe do not take new approaches
The Atlantic Research Council in Washington warned in a report that as long as the United States and the European Union do not take new approaches, the situation will continue to deteriorate for the Syrian people, refugees, and the increasingly troubled neighboring countries.
The Atlantic Council made it clear that the administration of US President Joe Biden had kept low expectations regarding its Syria policy, in a similar step to the two previous administrations.
The report considered that it is imperative for the Biden administration, in coordination with the European Union, to open a new page in its dealings with supporters of the Assad regime and the greater Syrian conflict, stressing that “the slogan that the Assad regime and its supporters only interact with credible threats has not been more accurate than ever. “
The report pointed out that the ideas of establishing a military council to enable a political transition “gained more positive momentum in the Syrian rumor mill,” considering that “the United States and the European Union should withdraw their support for the constitutional committee process run by Russia until Moscow puts pressure on Assad and his forces to release all of them.” The detainees, as stipulated in Security Council Resolution No. 2254.
Biden announced recently that “America is back,” and his Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, told NATO allies that the United States wants to rebuild its partnerships and revitalize the alliance, and given the repercussions of the Syrian conflict on them all, Syria is a good place to start, according to the report.
He stressed the need for the United States and the European Union to seize the opportunity to conduct new negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to link any agreement with Iran to the withdrawal of all militias it supports from Syria and Lebanon.
He pointed out that “the United States and the European Union possess strong political and financial cards in the face of Russia, but they did not want to use them in the Syrian context or in any other context.”
The report suggested that Putin remains “desperate to find a solution to the Assad problem so that reconstruction funds can make their way to Syria and reduce the current financial burden on the supporters of the regime.”
The report explained that, “Now is the time to make deals and put sincere pressure on Assad’s allies.”
The report concluded that “the time has come to get out of the illusion that US interests have not been affected by this conflict, and that what happens in Syria remains in Syria.”