UN, March 1. /TASS/. Russia’s permanent representative at the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, on Wednesday told Western countries not to "lecture Russia on humanism" over the situation in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta district.
Speaking to members of the UN Security Council, the Russian diplomat said it was "hard even to imagine" how intense the anti-Russian campaign in the Western media would have become, if Moscow did not support the resolution on ceasefire in Syria during the February 24 vote.
"Even now, after the resolution had been adopted, our Western partners claim that all of its provisions apply solely to Damascus and Russia, and that the successful implementation of the resolution depends on our country almost completely, while pretending to be champions in love for humanity, who, for some reason, believe that they have an exclusive right to lecture us on humanism," Nebenzya said.
"Dear humanists, let me ask you once again: where were you when US aviation razed Raqqa to the ground?" he asked, adding that months after the liberation of Raqqa from Islamic State militants, the city is still "unsuitable for living in."
"Moreover, we were informed about 24 civilian victims of the coalition’s airstrike in the Deir ez-Zor. Are they less important? Maybe human deaths caused by ‘democratic’ bombs are something insignificant, or even something honorary?" Nebenzya continued.
On February 24, the UN Security Council in a unanimous vote approved Resolution 2401, demanding a 30-day ceasefire across Syria to allow aid access to the population. The Security Council’s 15 members, including Russia, supported the document.
Under the resolution, the parties to the conflict are to stop immediately hostilities and abide by the humanitarian pause for at least 30 days across Syria in order to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in need and to evacuate the sick and wounded. The ceasefire would exempt operations against the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) and other terrorist organizations.
Western countries insisted the resolution should be approved in the wake of a humanitarian crisis in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of the Syrian capital controlled by armed groups and besieged by government forces.