July 12 () –
The US State Department has shown its disappointment with Russia for its “inhumane veto” of the nine-month extension of the cross-border humanitarian aid mechanism in northwest Syria during a vote at the United Nations Security Council.
“The United States is deeply disappointed with Russia’s inhumane veto of the cross-border humanitarian aid mechanism for Syria,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said during a press conference.
“We have repeatedly said that the UN Security Council should authorize a twelve-month extension of cross-border access to Syria to ensure this lifeline for the Syrian people. Russia has blocked this resolution despite overwhelming support from the council and calls of the Secretary General of the United Nations, (António Guterres), the UN humanitarian agencies and the NGOs working on the ground,” he added.
In addition, he has assured that the United States will continue to support the Syrian population and that it will remain committed to the reopening of the mechanism, since it is a “moral and humanitarian imperative.”
Russia has rejected the resolution presented by Sweden and Brazil, which planned to extend this assistance mechanism through Turkish territory to the northwest of the country, where some four million people benefit from this aid. China, for its part, has abstained, while thirteen other members of the Council have voted in favour, according to a UN statement.
Moscow’s proposal, however, establishes extending the work of the mechanism — which expired on Monday — for a period of six months. In addition, it includes an appeal to the UN countries to take measures to meet the needs of the Syrian population since Russia considers that the resolution presented “undermines the interests of the Syrians.”
However, this measure has not received the necessary votes for its approval either. The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasili Nebenzia, has described the vote as a “show” and has warned that its objective was precisely “to provoke the Russian veto” in order to accuse the country of “ending the mechanism”.
For his part, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has also been “disappointed” by the lack of agreement between the parties to extend the mechanism, which “facilitates the delivery of humanitarian aid in Syria”, as he has indicated his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, in a statement.
