The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the League of Arab States following their meeting in Amman, Jordan on March 21, 2023, to discuss the current situation in Syria in the aftermath of the earthquakes.
Begin Text
We expressed our heartfelt condolences for the immense devastation and loss of life caused by the February 6 earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, as well as our steadfast commitment to alleviate the suffering of those affected. We encouraged the international community to provide humanitarian assistance - including both emergency response and early recovery projects - to all Syrians in need, especially those in the most affected areas. In this regard, we welcomed the outcomes of the March 20, 2023, international donors’ conference in Brussels to support the people in Türkiye and Syria, and we also looked forward to the seventh annual Brussels Conference on the Future of Syria and the Region on June 15, 2023. We reiterated our call for a nationwide ceasefire and for continuous and unhindered humanitarian access to all Syrians through all modalities, including both cross-border and cross-line. We called for the maintenance and expansion of United Nations cross-border aid, for which there is no alternative in scope or scale. In this regard, we welcomed the recent facilitation by the Syrian authorities of UN cross-border humanitarian access through the Bab al-Salam and al-Rai crossings and called for this to continue.
We also welcomed UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen’s briefing and reaffirmed our support for UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
End Text
Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs