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Potential of Syrian cross-border aid mechanism exhausted — Russia’s UN envoy

Vasily Nebenzya said that "permissions to use two additional checkpoints for three months, issued by Damascus, have de-facto reduced to zero UN enthusiasm to unblock deliveries via the contact line"

UNITED NATIONS, April 27. /TASS/. The potential of the Syrian cross-border aid mechanism was exhausted long ago, and it is now being used for goals that have little or no relation to humanitarian aid, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya told the UN Security Council on Thursday.

"It looks like permissions to use two additional checkpoints for three months, issued by Damascus, have de-facto reduced to zero UN enthusiasm to unblock deliveries via the contact line," Nebenzya said.

"If our Western colleagues in the UN Security Council keep pretending that nothing is happening, and keep ignoring the fact that UN Security Council decisions are being sabotaged by [groups], recognized as terrorists on the international level, we will draw conclusions from this situation when making our minds in the context of the upcoming prolongation of the cross-border mechanism, due in July. It exhausted its potential long ago and currently serves different goals, which are far from humanitarian [aid]," Nebenzya said.

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Syria Vasily Nebenzya

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