Moscow has launched a new diplomatic battle at the UN Security Council, declaring its opposition to the extension of the international mechanism for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria for another six months.
Damascus, like its major ally Moscow, also stepped up its opposition of renewing and extending the international mechanism for aid delivery.
On Wednesday, UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen warned against the worsening humanitarian situation in Syria and suggested steps to break the impasse and resume political negotiations.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya was the one to relay his country’s objection to extending the mechanism. This came as no surprise since Moscow had already criticized the international agreement’s course of action.
The mechanism was extended last June, for a period of six months, provided that the UN Security Council returns to its discussions on the issue by the end of the year.
Moscow is currently conducting discussions with Ankara about its military campaign in northern Syria. The two sides are reviewing humanitarian aid delivery, especially since the only crossing that Moscow agreed to continue working with is the “Bab al-Hawa” crossing on the border with Türkiye.
During a UN Security Council discussion session, Nebenzya justified the Russian position by saying that the current humanitarian situation in Syria “does not provide an appropriate context for discussions about extending the mechanism for delivering aid across the borders.”
“It is difficult to get rid of the feeling that the efforts being made to justify the lack of an alternative to the mechanism for transporting aid across the borders are more than what is being done to organize supplies across the line of contact,” added Nebenzya.
“The issue for us is not that we oppose providing aid to simple Syrians, as some delegations will try to suggest,” argued the diplomat, adding that Russia “calls on the international community to help all Syrians without any discrimination.”
