The Security Council did not adopt a draft resolution proposed by Russia on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria through a single checkpoint on the border with Turkey, TASS reported on Wednesday.
"Seven countries voted against the resolution, four supported the document, and four more abstained. Thus, the document was not adopted," German Ambassador to the UN Christoph Heusgen said as President of the Security Council in July.
As it became known to TASS, Russia, China, Vietnam and South Africa voted for the text proposed by the Russian Federation. Indonesia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Tunisia abstained. The United Kingdom, the United States, France, Belgium, Germany, the Dominican Republic and Estonia voted against.
The vote was held in writing due to restrictions imposed at the UN headquarters to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The Russian proposal was to extend the mechanism for delivering humanitarian aid to the affected areas of Syria for six months, while limiting the number of active checkpoints to one - the Bab al-Hawa checkpoint (on the border with Turkey). On July 7, Russia and China vetoed a draft resolution by Germany and Belgium that proposed leaving two checkpoints open for the UN.
Two days to reach a compromise
The mechanism expires on July 11, so the Council has 48 hours to work out a compromise option for its extension.
On Tuesday, the Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said that Moscow considered it necessary to gradually wind down the cross-border assistance mechanism for Syria, as the situation in the Arab Republic had changed over the six years of its operation. Now more areas of the country are under the control of Damascus, so aid can be delivered there by agreement with the Syrian government.
The UN Security Council decided to launch cross-border humanitarian operations in Syria in July 2014. In January this year, it extended the validity of the relevant resolution for six months, but the number of checkpoints was reduced from four to two located on the border with Turkey. In July, Germany and Belgium proposed to extend the work of the two points on the year with the possibility of adding a check-point, but this option did not suit Russia and China.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Bebeto Matthews / AP / TASS