Western partners in the UN Security Council discussing extended the checkpoints to deliver cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria were willing to sacrifice all the mechanism, but would not be criticized unilateral sanctions against Syria in the text of the resolution, wrote on Twitter the first Deputy Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Polyansky.
On Saturday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution for the fifth time extending the validity of the Bab al-Hawa border crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border for a year. Russia, along with China and the Dominican Republic, abstained in the vote. "We abstained from voting on the draft on a cross-border mechanism in Syria, because we are disappointed with the way the authors conducted the entire process. We could have reached this result earlier, " Polyansky wrote.
He recalled that from the very beginning of the discussion, Russia proposed to extend the operation of the Bab al-Hawa checkpoint, which is the most important for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Idlib. "The hypocrisy and double standards of our Western colleagues reached unprecedented heights during the negotiations. They were ready to jeopardize the cross-border mechanism, just to exclude (from the text of the resolution - ed.) passages about unilateral sanctions and the growing role of humanitarian aid supplies through the contact lines," Polyansky stressed.
"This will not mislead anyone, Russia consistently supports humanitarian supplies to Syria with full respect for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity and in coordination with its legitimate government. This problem should not be politicized, " the first Deputy representative said.
As part of the mechanism for cross - border delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria, two border crossings were previously used on the border of Syria and Turkey-" Bab al-Hawa" and "Bab es-Salam". The mandate of these checkpoints expired on Friday. For further delivery of humanitarian aid by this route, the Security Council had to adopt a corresponding resolution.
So far, the Security Council has not been able to do this because of the different positions of Russia and China on the one hand, and Belgium and Germany on the other. Russia wanted to keep only one checkpoint in operation - Bab al-Hawa. Moscow also called for the resolution to reflect the harmfulness of unilateral sanctions against Syria, which worsen the humanitarian situation in the country against the backdrop of war and the coronavirus pandemic.
Belgium and Germany initially insisted on maintaining two checkpoints, but in the final version agreed to extend only one checkpoint "Bab al-Hawa" - for a year (until July 10, 2021), as previously proposed by Russia. Meanwhile, the resolution of Belgium and Germany does not contain provisions condemning unilateral sanctions against Syria. Germany claims that EU sanctions are targeted and do not hit the general population.
The fundamental difference of opinion on the one hand between Moscow and Beijing, and on the other between European states and the United States in the Security Council concerns the mechanism of cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria.
Russia is in favor of phasing out this mechanism. According to Moscow, it was temporary and was needed in conditions when the Syrian authorities did not control large areas of the country. At that time, it was expedient to deliver humanitarian supplies via 4 checkpoints from neighboring Iraq, Jordan and Turkey to help the population in areas not controlled by the government. Now the situation "on the ground" has changed, the Syrian army is taking control of more and more territories and the need for a mechanism has disappeared, Moscow says. Syria and Russia say that humanitarian aid should now be delivered through Damascus.
The work of four checkpoints has been extended by UN Security Council resolutions every year since 2014. In January, at the insistence of Russia and China, the work of two border crossings - on the border of Syria and Jordan, as well as the SAR and Iraq - was not extended. This time, Russia and China have managed to close another border crossing - this time on the border with Turkey. This causes a sharp rejection of Western partners in the Security Council. European countries and the United States claim that the closure of the checkpoint will cause casualties among Syrian civilians deprived of humanitarian aid.
The Russian permanent mission to the UN on Friday recalled that the mechanism for cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid was created in 2014 as an urgent and temporary, exceptional measure. According to Moscow, "there is no doubt that it contradicts the principles of international humanitarian law and undermines Syrian sovereignty." At that stage, the mechanism became a compromise for solving problems within the conflict-torn country and easing the fate of people in need of assistance, the permanent mission noted. The statement said that Russia had repeatedly pointed out problems in the monitoring system of this mechanism, including problems with reporting. They are still not resolved, the permanent mission says, and they are in favor of "gradually closing the checkpoint and winding down the entire mechanism as the situation in the country allows".
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Public Domain
Based on materials from RIA Novosti