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Russia to veto UNSC resolution mentioning Chapter 7 of UN Charter

UNITED NATIONS, June 27. /ITAR-TASS/. At the UN Security Council, Russia will block the adoption of a humanitarian resolution on Syria if the resolution would mention the UN Charter's Chapter 7 which admits of the application of sanctions and the use of military force against states, Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the UN, told journalists on Thursday.

Churkin said he was prepared even to veto such a document twice after Western countries at the UNSC would not want to work with the Russia-proposed concept of a humanitarian resolution.

"I shall use a veto twice following all those discussions that we have been holding , because we suggested to them a possibility that really works," Churkin said. He pointed out that the talks with the Syrian side that already consented to open four border crossings (from Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey) took up several weeks. "They (the West) now say that this is not enough. They want more than that. What more will they be able to achieve? I do not know. We shall be greatly disappointed if they decide to give up the accord (achieved)," the diplomat emphasized.

Russia's UN Ambassador pointed out that in the current grave humanitarian situation it is essential to interact with the Syrian government, "which a number of Council members are categorically unwilling to do".

Churkin explained that Russia's concept of such a resolution envisions deployment of UN observers at the border with Syria to inspect humanitarian supplies being forwarded to that country. The RF Permanent Representative said that during a closed-door meeting at the UNSC on Thursday, Valerie Amos, UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, set out her vision as to how a monitoring mission must work at the border. That vision "fully coincides with our opinion," Churkin stated.

He said that within the scope of the Russia-suggested formula, Damascus allowed direct deliveries of humanitarian supplies to the stricken areas even those which are under the opposition's control. In the process, the authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic promised that a permission for the passage of aid convoys would be issued within 48 hours. Damascus preferred to ensure that a Syrian subdivision of the Red Crescent Society tackles the distribution of aid supplies.