Russia has decided to withdraw from the system of deconflicting with the UN in Syria, as a number of objects, called humanitarian, were used by terrorists. This was stated on Monday by Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia, speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
UN Assistant Secretary-General Mark Lowcock said during the meeting that Russia withdrew from the mechanism of humanitarian warnings on June 23.
"This mechanism operated on a voluntary basis, it was not fixed by decisions of the Security Council or other legal grounds," Nebenzia said. "Our own investigations have repeatedly shown that some of the deconflicting sites were actually used as terrorist headquarters, so they could not be given humanitarian status," he added.
Strikes on civilian targets in Syria are excluded
Russia rules out the possibility of strikes on civilian targets in Syria, despite withdrawing from the deconflicting mechanism with the UN, Nebenzia said.
"We suggest that from now on, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs should resolve the issue of deconflicting directly with the Syrian authorities. This will be the right thing to do," the Russian representative said. "Russia will continue to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law. We have repeatedly stressed that the Russian aerospace forces use an effective target verification system that excludes the possibility of attacks on civilian objects, " Nebenzia said.