The UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, acknowledged Tuesday before the Security Council the impossibility of holding a meeting in October in Geneva of the constitutional review body as planned, and expressed his hope to hold a session in November.

He said during a video conference that due to lack of agreement on its agenda, "we could not hold a fourth session in October, as we had hoped for the mini-constitutional committee," which includes 45 representatives from the regime, the opposition and civil society.

Referring to his recent visit to Damascus, he added, "We have not yet reached a final agreement (...) but the plan is to hold new talks in November" in Geneva, without referring to the date of November 23, which some sources mentioned.

During the discussion, the US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Mills considered the lack of progress in the discussions on constitutional reform "unacceptable."

"The time has come to say to the Assad regime, that is enough," he said.

The French ambassador, Nicolas de Riviere, said that "the political process has reached a dead end," and after a year, "the outcome of the work of the Constitutional Committee is almost non-existent," accusing Damascus of wanting to gain time.

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia, whose country supports Damascus politically and militarily, affirmed that the political process belongs to the Syrians themselves.

"It is important that we give the Syrians the opportunity to negotiate without outside interference," he said. "The work of the constitutional committee should not be linked to any other entitlement."

The last meeting of the Constitutional Committee dates back to the end of August. It ended with little progress.

This committee was formed on October 30, 2019 at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, and consists of 150 members, and is responsible for amending the 2012 constitution in preparation for the upcoming elections.

The United Nations hopes this process will set the stage for a political settlement to the conflict that has killed more than 380,000 people since 2011.

In front of the Security Council, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock said that he is seeking an additional $211 million to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Syria under the auspices of the United Nations.

He explained that these funds will be used specifically to maintain supplies of medical materials, improve access to water, clean up camps for displaced people, and make schools for students and teachers safer.

The official estimated that the number of Covid-19 cases in the country "may be much higher" than officially "13,500 confirmed cases,” and expressed concern about the spread of the disease in crowded areas, including camps for the displaced.