Russia: aid includes provisions; we expect political solution in Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the decision of the UN Security Council on the extension of humanitarian aid to Syrian across the border includes a number of provisions that provide “the importance of the principle of dealing with the comprehensive needs of the Syrians and the improvement of the economic and social situation in the country.”
In addition to this, on Tuesday, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov expressed his expectations that his country would facilitate the political settlement process in Syria after the convergence of views in the Security Council on border crossings for humanitarian aid.
On Friday, the United Nations Security Council issued a decision to extend the mechanism of the entry of humanitarian aid through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey into northwest Syria, without adding any other crossings.
Political optimism
The Russian TASS agency quoted Antonov as saying that “one of the most important results in the past days is the coordination of Russian and American efforts to settle the situation in Syria.
Antonov expressed his belief that the decision to extent Bab al-Hawa crossing for aid “will contribute to achieving a political settlement in Syria as soon as possible.”
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield said in a statement to reporters that the Security Council’s decision is “an important moment in our relations with Russia, and shows what we can do with the Russians if we work with them diplomatically on common goals.”
Aid with provisions
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the decision to extend the provision of aid through Bab al-Hawa “confirms the determination to make efforts to improve the humanitarian aid mechanism to the various Syrian regions from Damascus.”
“This is precisely the system of providing aid that complies with the provisions of international humanitarian law and the basic principles and respect that this law documents,” the statement added.
The ministry asked UN member states to “react to the decision in line with the call of the UN Secretary-General to ease the sanctions imposed on the Assad regime.”
The Security Council instructed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to report to it in detail about the indicators of the humanitarian situation, not only from inside Syria, but also regarding cross-border consignments, according to the statement.
The statement stressed the need for the report to include, for the first time, information on the mechanism for distributing humanitarian aid in Idlib, as well as on the work of NGOs in the de-escalation zone, “to which UN representatives do not yet have access.”
The ministry expressed its hope that “the fair implementation, without prejudice and politicization of the resolution, will make a serious improvement of the humanitarian situation in Syria and an alleviation of suffering.”
The ministry statement indicated that the unanimous support for the draft resolution drawn up by the representatives of Russia and the United States “constitutes a clear confirmation of the currently emerging international consensus.”