Russia rejects extension of UN resolution authorizing cross-border aid to Syria

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that his country wouldn’t approve the extension of a UN resolution authorizing the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria through the Turkish border crossing at Bab al-Hawa when the resolution expires in July.

In early July 2020, China and Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution that would have maintained two border crossing points from Turkey to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria’s northwest Idlib governorate.

Days later, the council authorized the delivery of aid through just one of those crossings, Bab al-Hawa. That one-year mandate was extended for an additional year on July 9, 2021.

Nebenzia justified Russia’s stance by saying that the situation has not changed in the 9 months since the Security Council’s decision to extend. He noted that the purpose of the resolution was to pass aid to all parts of Syria, but during this time only three aid convoys have reached Idlib.

“Russia does not see any justification for extending the mechanism for the delivery of humanitarian aid across the [Turkish] border to Syria after its term expires next July,” Nebenzia said.

The ambassador said that aid should be controlled by the Syrian government, its ally, and delivered across conflict lines.

He also said that insisting on passing aid through border crossings was “mere unwillingness to solve the problem of humanitarian deliveries from Damascus to Idlib.”

“Let me be frank, in such circumstances, we can hardly see any reason why the cross-border resolution should be renewed again,” the ambassador said.