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Conflict in Syria

UNSC to vote on draft resolutions on cross-border aid deliveries to Syria on Friday

At the end of December, Moscow and Beijing vetoed the draft resolution proposed by Western countries while Russia submitted its own version of the document which failed to receive enough votes to pass

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

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West used humanitarian aid delivery to undermine Syria’s sovereignty — Russian diplomats

THE UNITED NATIONS, January 10. /TASS/. The UN Security Council will once again vote on two draft resolutions on extending cross-border aid deliveries to Syria on Friday, spokesman for the Russian mission to the United Nations Fyodor Strzhizhovsky told reporters on Thursday.

At the end of December, Moscow and Beijing vetoed the draft resolution proposed by Western countries while Russia submitted its own version of the document which failed to receive enough votes to pass. The mechanism for extending cross-border humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria expires on January 10. This will be the last chance for the UN Security Council to reach a compromise on this issue.

"Belgium and Germany, who oversee humanitarian issues at UNSC, submitted a draft resolution on extending the mechanism of cross-border humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria," Strzhizhovsky said. "In turn, Russia submitted its own draft document, which envisages delivering humanitarian aid to Idlib through Turkish territory and excluding border checkpoints from Iraq and Jordan," he added.

"Voting is scheduled for later afternoon on January 10," the diplomat noted.

Belgium and Germany insist on devering aid to Syria through three checkpoints - two on the border with Turkey and one on the border with Iraq. Moscow insists on excluding the checkpoint on the border with Iraq. The sides agree that the mechanism for cross-border aid deliveries may only be extended for six months due to a rapidly changing situation on the ground.

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