we welcome in this regard the recent initiative of the russian federation to sponsor and all syrian dialogue in moscow to find a solution to this crisis. thank you, mr. president. >> i thank you for your statement. i give the floor to members of f the counsel, sec -- secretary of state of the united states of america. >> thank you very much. thank you, prime minister and secretary general for the thorough briefing of the the arab league has demonstrated important leadership in this crisis, and for many months, the people of the region and the world watched in horror as the assad regime executed its own citizens, civilians gunned down in the streets, women and children tortured and killed, and no one is safe, not even officials of the syrian-arab red crescent. according to u.n. estimates, more than 5,400 -- [no audio] resist the regimes brutality, violence is increasingly likely to spiral out of control. already, the challenges ahead for the serian people are -- syrian people are daunting. a crumbling economy, rising sectarian tensions, a caldron of instability in the heart of the middle east