Head of the UN Syria mission General Mood and the head of UN peacekeeping operations Herve Ladsous will brief the UN Security Council behind closed doors at 20GMT on Tuesday.

The briefing is likely to focus on the security situation the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) faces on the ground given the suspension over the weekend.

Council members will also be questioning Mood on the future of the mission as a whole. Some Security Council diplomats are already speculating that the mission may end before the July 20 deadline.