THE UNITED NATIONS, September 18. /TASS/. The United Nations will have positive cooperation with Russian and Syrian representatives when investigating the alleged air strikes on civilian facilities in Idlib, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday at a news conference marking the opening of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.
"[This] board of inquiry has very clear instructions in its terms of reference to act in extreme perspective of impartiality to see what is the truth and not to abide by any agenda," Guterres said when asked by TASS.
"By the way, it will be investigating situations or will be looking into situations both in the area that is under the control of the opposition and in the area that is under the control of the government of Syria," he added.
"We strongly hope - and the Russian government has already said so - there will be positive cooperation also with the government of Russia and the government of Syria," Guterres said.
"Obviously, the number of incidents that the board of inquiry will be looking at is related to my competence as chief administrative officer," he said.
"Otherwise, this would have to be decided by the Security Council or the General Assembly, in that investigation, or the inquiry, takes place in relation of premises that were under UN support <…> or in situations in which the conflicting agreements involving the UN were taking place," he said.
"These are the only situations in which I have the authority to ask the board of inquiry to do the investigation," he stressed.
In late July, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres resolved to set up the United Nations Board on Inquiry in northwest Syria, which will begin its work on September 30. An inquiry for such a probe was issued by ten members of the UN Security Council, namely the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Germany, Belgium, Peru, Poland, Kuwait, the Dominican Republic, and Indonesia.
The Russian foreign ministry described this decision as provocative. Moreover, it called to question the secretary general’s competences for taking such decision without the UN Security Council’s approval. Meanwhile, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said that Moscow would share all information it had on incidents in Idlib with the United Nations.
Nebenzia said Russian aircraft did not cause damage to civilian facilities in Syria’s Idlib governorate. According to the Russian diplomat, the United Nations has no observers on the ground, and, therefore, has to rely on information from questionable sources.