Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
New York, SANA- Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia has announced that Russia will introduce a new draft resolution to the International Security Council that aims to extend the cross-border aid deliveries mechanism in Syria for six months to replace the draft resolution which it had vetoed along with China.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russia and China vetoed a draft submitted by Belgium and Germany that exploits the humanitarian situations in Syria and violates its sovereignty as it would have extended authorization for cross-border humanitarian aid in Syria for one year without the approval of its government.
“we will introduce our own draft, which extends cross-border aid deliveries mechanism for another 6 months and limits the number of crossing points to one,” Nebenzia said.
He added “Moscow is convinced that one crossing will be enough to transfer aid and to meet the needs of civilians there as the area which has remained under the control of terrorists in Idleb has shrunk,” Nebenzia said, calling on all parties concerned to contribute to the transfer of humanitarian aid to Syria and not to politicize this file.
Nebenzia recalled the Russian position, stating that this aid transfer mechanism was already temporary and it is time to finish its work due to the changes on the ground in Syria.
It is noteworthy that the UN Security Council adopted resolution no. 2165, which authorized humanitarian convoys heading to Syria to cross the borders, and its validity is extended every year, and this mechanism is still in place since July 2014.
Ruaa al-Jazaeri
