UNITED NATIONS, June 20. /TASS/. Israel's June 10 airstrikes on the airport of Damascus are inadmissible and are fraught with escalation for the entire region, Russia's First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky told a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday.
"The humanitarian situation continues to be exacerbated by tragic incidents that undermine security. The mentioned by [Under-Secretary-General] Martin Griffiths June 10 airstrikes on the outskirts of Damascus by Israeli aircraft, which damaged the runway and the building of the Syrian capital's international airport that had to be closed, stand out in this context," the Russian diplomat said.
"As a result, flights via the capital, including those of the UN air service, were suspended," he noted.
"Such actions are unacceptable, they have serious consequences for the Syrian citizens and are fraught with escalation for the entire region," Polyansky stressed.
Polyansky said the weapons that the West is sending Kiev are increasingly often turning up in Syria’s Idlib as they are sold on by corrupt Ukrainian officials.
"Western weapons are increasingly often turning up in Idlib as they are sold on by corrupt Ukrainian officials," he said at a meeting of the UN Security Council. "The heated up black market of weapons in Europe has become a treasure trove not only for them, but also for radical Islamists throughout the entire Middle East.".
Polyansky blamed the US for the food and fuel crises in Syria that were caused by unilateral sanctions from Washington.
"Increasingly alarming is the information about the food and fuel crises in Syria, the responsibility for which lies with the United States, given the unilateral sanctions and the occupation of the north-east of the country," he said at a meeting of the UN Security Council dedicated to the humanitarian situation in the Middle Eastern country. "The population, including children, is starving, the work of social, including medical institutions is suspended. The shortage of fuel also affects the operation of water and power plants, and Syrian farmers are under hard hit."
He said humanitarian workers that try to operate in Syria complain about the sanctions.
"Statements by Washington, as well as a number of other capitals, that unilateral sanctions are supposedly meant to comply with their international obligations, as well as statements about their targeted and verified nature, not only sound false and unconvincing, but also demonstrate the inhumane treatment of the civilian population of Syria," Polyansky said.
At the end of March, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that the United States grossly violated the sovereignty of Syria by sending an American delegation to the northeastern province of Hasakah, led by a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. The Foreign Ministry of the Arab republic told the international community that the United States "continues to unceremoniously plunder the country's natural resources, steal its oil and gas, while maintaining suffocating economic sanctions." The Foreign Ministry also condemned the US administration's intention to exempt the non-government-controlled areas in northern and northeastern Syria from the sanctions. The document emphasized that "these territories are in the hands of separatist groups and terrorist groups associated with the Turkish regime." The ministry said "this step by the US will only prolong the crisis and violence, create an atmosphere of chaos and disrupt the political settlement.".