Washington and Beijing debate coronavirus and reopening of al-Yaroubiyah crossing for humanitarian aid

North-Press Agency

On Tuesday, the United States of America and China exchanged sharp criticism about leading the world in anti-coronavirus efforts, as Washington called on Beijing to support an international resolution resume aid to northeastern Syria via the al-Yaroubiyah/Tel Kocher crossing on the border with Iraq.

In a session on Tuesday, Kelly Craft, the Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, called on China to demonstrate its claim to global leadership in fighting COVID-19 by supporting a resolution allowing the UN to combat the pandemic by sending life-saving aid across the border to Syria.

China's Ambassador to the Security Council Zhang Jun said that Beijing calls on Washington to focus on global efforts to combat the virus, to stop playing political games, and really focus on saving lives, not to shirk its responsibilities and hoist them on other countries.

Craft urged the Security Council to renew the mandate to send aid across the Iraqi border to Syria and the British delegate supported her in asking for the resumption of the use of al-Yaroubiyah / Tel Kocher crossing on the border with Iraq in northeastern Syria to transport aid.

However, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya opposed this, saying, "Do not waste your time on efforts to reopen closed border crossings."

Nebenzya stressed that instead of reopening the border crossings to transport aid, it is necessary to cooperate with Damascus on the issue of transferring humanitarian aid to Syria.

About five months ago, the al-Yaroubiyah/Tel Kocher crossing was closed to UN humanitarian access to North and East Syria due to the opposition of Moscow and Beijing, which exacerbated the challenges facing the region in countering the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, according to civil organizations.