MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. Russia welcomes the Syrian government’s decision to allow UN humanitarian agencies to continue using the border crossings of Bab al-Salam and Al Ra'ee until August 13, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday.

The ministry stressed that this measure was sanctioned by Syrian President Bashar Assad "in the interest of facilitating and expanding emergency assistance to areas affected by the February 6 devastating earthquake."

"Moscow hails this sovereign decision by the Syrian authorities (to allow UN humanitarian agencies to continue using two crossing points on the border with Turkey - Bab al-Salam and Al Ra'ee - for three more months - TASS), which is designed to facilitate international humanitarian assistance to all Syrians who need help without politicization and in conformity with the norms and principles of international humanitarian law, i.e. in coordination and upon agreement with the national government," the ministry said.

The ministry pointed to other important measures taken by Damascus following the earthquake, such as its blanket approval of humanitarian missions providing for the swift coordination of aid deliveries to Syria along domestic routes and for simplified visa issuance procedures to foreign humanitarian workers.

The ministry also noted that the process of the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syria, which is badly needed after the devastating earthquake, "continues to be accompanied by preliminary conditions, with blatant discrimination towards Damascus-controlled territories."

"Thus, the United Nations’ urgent call for Syria’s north-western areas that are not controlled by the government was financed immediately and in full whereas less than ten percent of the required funds under the UN Syrian Humanitarian Response Plan have been allocated since the beginning of the year. Moreover, amid the actual expansion of cross-border deliveries, internal humanitarian convoys across the line of engagement have been blocked. After the earthquake, two convoys were stopped at the entrance to the de-escalation zone and local UNSC-recognized militants did not let and are not letting in either these cargoes or any other missions. All this has happened and is happening despite the fact that local civilians are in dire need of assistance and with no appropriate reaction from the international community and the UN leadership," the ministry said.

"This situation was yet another vivid example of double standards in Western nations who use pseudo-humanitarian slogans to promote the cross-border aid mechanism in Syria bypassing Damascus (via the Bab al-Hawa border crossing). Declaring their alleged donor generosity, the United States and its allies are steadily stealing Syria’s natural resources and are suffocating the country by means of illegal unilateral sanctions. In this situation, the Syrian government’s decision to prolong the operation of the two additional crossing points, which are working without a special resolution of the UN Security Council, demonstrates that it is possible and necessary to render assistance to Syrians as is provided by international humanitarian law and on the basis of respecting Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity," the ministry stressed.

Two powerful 7.7-magnitude and 7.6-magnitude earthquakes rocked Turkey’s south-eastern Kahramanmaras province on February 6. The tremors, followed by thousands of aftershocks, were felt in eleven provinces as well as in neighboring countries, including Syria. According to the Syrian authorities, the death toll from the quakes exceeded 1,400 and more than 400,000 people were affected by the calamity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as many as 4,537 people died in the quake in Syrian regions near the border with Turkey, which are not controlled by the government.