Russia and China have vetoed a draft resolution in the UN Security Council by Belgium and Germany extending the operation of two border crossings on the border of Syria and Turkey to deliver humanitarian aid. The other members of the Security Council voted in favor.
As stated by Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, Russia will submit its draft resolution to the Security Council, leaving one checkpoint for the delivery of aid — "Bab al-Hawa".
The regime of simplified delivery of humanitarian and medical supplies to Syria from neighboring states, primarily through the border with Turkey, through front lines and border crossings, has been in effect since July 2014 and has been extended annually. Within its framework, UN humanitarian agencies and their partners were entitled to use routes through the lines of confrontation and the border crossing points of Bab es Salam, Bab al-Hawa, al-Yarubiya and al-Ramta.
In early January, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution by Belgium and Germany to extend the mechanism for six months, while reducing the number of border checkpoints to two: only Bab al-Salam and Bab al-Hawa remained operational.
This decision was supported by Russia, China, and Syria. Moscow stressed that the need for two other checkpoints had disappeared, as the situation" on the ground " had changed. According to the Russian side, the Syrian authorities have taken control of territories previously held by terrorists and are able to deliver humanitarian supplies there themselves. But this is extremely unsatisfactory for Western partners.
The mandate of the Bab es Salam and Bab al-Hawa border crossings expires on July 10, 2020. To continue delivering humanitarian aid via these routes, the Security Council must extend it. In June, Germany and Belgium introduced a new draft resolution on a one-year extension.
The original version of the document proposed that, taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic, UN humanitarian agencies and their partners should again be allowed to use the al-Yarubiya border crossing as an exception during the initial period — until January 10, 2021. However, the authors then abandoned this point.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from RIA Novosti