UNITED NATIONS, July 13. /TASS/. The UN Security Council has found an optimal pattern for the Syrian cross-border aid mechanism (CBM), and Russia will watch closely how it is being put into practice, Russia’s deputy UN envoy told the Security Council on Tuesday.
"Having discovered the optimal pattern for the renewal of the CBM, we gave a second chance to the faithful implementation of all aspects of the resolution that are related to the mechanism during the next six months," Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.
"We will employ the potential of informal interactive dialogues in the Security Council in order to keep track of the progress of the resolution that we adopted today and determine the future of the CBM," the diplomat continued.
In his opinion, "only a frank and substantive dialogue about the problems at the Syrian humanitarian track, where all interested stakeholders should take part, will help us make a well-weighed decision once this half-year period is over." Polyansky is convinced that special reports of the Secretary-General alone would not be enough for the extension.
"There is a huge bulk of work that we need to do now at many pivotal tracks, among them enhancing cross-line deliveries to all regions of Syria," the Russian first deputy UN envoy continued. "We also call on the Secretary-General to pay specific attention to the need to lift unilateral sanctions in the context of COVID-19 consequences that have not been overcome yet. We need to work diligently to eradicate this problem in Syria, which will give donors more opportunity to invest in early recovery projects in this Arab country."
"We will closely follow the implementation of these tasks, and we do hope that by January 2023 the Secretary-General provides the Council with exhaustive information regarding the work performed," he added.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution to extend the mechanism of cross-border aid in Syria to January 10, 2023. Twelve members of the Security Council voted in favor of the document, while the UK, the US and France abstained.
The resolution is based on the Russian proposal and provides for the extension of the mechanism of cross-border assistance for six months, with a subsequent possible extension for another six months by a separate resolution.