The war in #Ukraine has severed all meaningful U.S.-#Russia diplomatic contact, & the same for #Europe.
#Moscow is more likely than ever to veto cross-border aid at the UNSC in July & #Syria's wheat supplies are lower than ever -- a famine in 2022 is now very much on the cards.
Amid a severing of diplomatic contact w. #Russia (except for #JCPOA talks), x2 officials tell me #Moscow has stopped answering the #Syria deconfliction line -- and x1 U.S. DOD official confirmed #Russia has resumed "unsafe and unprofessional" actions around U.S. forces in the NE.
"#Assad has survived — but he stands atop the ruins of a state," & #Russia's war in #Ukraine looks set to make him "acutely vulnerable."
#Syria's 2022 wheat crop is expected to be 25% of its average; #Russia supplies are off; the SYP is spiraling & even the @WFP can't help.
@WFP To adapt, a "freeze & build" strategy would "pivot away from tactical emergency assistance & toward strategic stabilization and targeted rebuilding across areas of northern #Syria not controlled by #Assad’s regime."
Hard yes, but not impossible.
Status quo = guaranteed failure.
@WFP A "freeze & build" strategy would require north-wide sanctions waivers, close coordination w. #Turkey & a bold shift in mentality -- less tents, blankets & food baskets and more semi-permanent housing, investment for small business/agriculture & sustainable resources like solar."
@WFP "A “freeze and build” strategy would not be a policy of partition & it would not consider UNSCR 2254 dead or weaken international commitment to it. In fact, it would strengthen international resolve & increase leverage to pursue UNSCR 2254’s goals" -- when conditions to so arise.
@WFP With conflict lines already frozen & diplomacy all but dead [for now], the time has come for the US & allies to build credible alternative/s across northern #Syria - to do good for millions of civilians in need & to enhance credibility & leverage over a vulnerable #Assad/#Russia.
@WFP There's *a lot* to unpack, in terms of #Ukraine's impact on #Syria & the opportunities it gives for a strategic pivot to a more meaningful & sustainable policy.
Current policy was unlikely to work before, but it's guaranteed to fail now -- time to adapt:
For what it’s worth, *IF* #Assad’s regime begins sending troops to #Ukraine, they’ll be no more than cannon fodder in a battle & environment that’s completely alien to them - it’ll be like “sending Martians to fight on the Moon,” as I told @WSJ:
When, on the rare occasion, #Assad needed capable urban warfare fighters, he turned to #Hezbollah — NOT his own military.
#Syria’s military was good at brutal, sustained sieges, indiscriminate bombardment, horrific [sectarian] violence, mass torture & organised crime. That’s it.
Within months of #Russia’s military intervention in #Syria in Sept 2015, #Putin furiously reacted to the poor performance of #Assad’s forces — they simply couldn’t take advantage of Russian backing.
To solve that, #Russia had to send in SOF ground troops & work with #Hezbollah.
In the last 48hrs, #Syria's banned almost all food exports, amid acute concern about the implications of war in #Ukraine.
#Syria is *deeply* reliant on staple food (esp. wheat) shipments from #Russia via the Black Sea. Those shipments (& #Russia financial aid) have 100% stopped.
Already, #Syria's fiscal crisis, energy shortages, unprecedented drought & the resulting crippled agricultural output had seen some aid figures warn of a famine in 2022.
#Putin's war on #Ukraine has just placed those fears on steroids -- I'm told #Damascus is extremely worried.
To make matters even worse, the war in #Ukraine has distracted international attention from #Syria & its acute humanitarian crises -- donor payments will almost certainly decline & future pledges will be [further] cut, just as the humanitarian suffering looks destined to worsen.
War in #Ukraine will have extremely negative impact on the humanitarian situation in #Syria -- and #Russia is now more likely than ever to veto cross-border aid access in July.
Any alternative plans will be dead in the water, without #Turkey playing a central role. We need that.
The #Biden admin appears to already be preparing for a possible severing of X-border aid access -- in part by seeking to provide a full sanctions waiver to NE & NW #Syria.
But we'll also need a massive #Turkey-based aid effort to fill [some of] the gap resulting from a UN veto.
#Russia is clearly taking painfully significant losses in #Ukraine -- and is now even admitting it.
That'll surely have domestic repercussions, but #Putin is unlikely to concede anything; he'll double down.
#Syria shows what a terrifying prospect that could be.
In #Syria, #Russia literally flattened urban centers; it facilitated & covered for chemical weapons use; it bombed UN aid convoys & reinforced brutal sieges that saw people eating grass & weeds for years.
#Putin cannot be shamed, only challenged -- but nobody has ever done that.
With an airfield outside #Kyiv already under Russian control, #Russia appears intent on taking the capital before the #EU, U.S. or anyone else even announces punitive measures.
These IL-76s could be landing within minutes, within city limits.
If reports are accurate that the #Ukraine military recaptured the Hostomel airfield outside #Kyiv tonight, that's no insignificant feat -- there were 150+ elite VDV paratroopers there earlier.
It'd also have stalled #Russia's plan to fly in a force to take the capital. For now.
Chilling close from #Putin, clearly aimed at the U.S. & #NATO:
“A couple words for those who would be tempted to intervene. #Russia will respond immediately & you’ll have consequences that you’ve never had in your history.”