NUR-SULTAN, July 9. /TASS/. It is time to stop using the Mechanism for Cross-Border Aid Delivery into Syria (CBM) as it has outlived its usefulness, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said in an interview with TASS.
"We think that the norms of international law and principles of international humanitarian law must be respected and humanitarian assistance should be delivered via legitimate authorities. The mechanism we have is, literally, an anachronism. It has outlived its usefulness. And, naturally, it should be rejected," he said.
He said he would refrain from anticipating the results of the UN Security Council voting on a draft resolution of the cross-border aid mechanism. "So far, we have no weighty evidence in favor of keeping this mechanism in place, but for commonplace phrases about the suffering of the Syrian people and the urgency of aid. I would like to stress once again that the policy of double standards even on this matter must be dropped," he noted.
According to the Russian diplomat, some countries insist that the Bab l-Hawa checkpoint should be used further on to ensure supplies to armed groups operating in the area. "Because it is them who receive assistance. Further on, they distribute or even sell it, thus depriving civilians of direct access controlled by international organizations. And there is no such control because international organizations are not present there. Everything is actually left at the mercy of militants and it is inadmissible," Lavrentyev stressed.
He also pointed to the fact that the Americans insist that relief aid to civilians living in the al-Tanf area controlled by them be delivered from Damascus rather than via Iraq of Jordan, which makes more sense.
The same approach, in his words, is demonstrated by the Americans on matters of assistance to the Gaza Strip following the recent escalation. "The Americans say: yes, we are ready to deliver humanitarian aid, but we are ready to deliver it only via Ramallah, i.e. via the legitimate Palestinian authorities and we will not deliver it directly to Gaza," he explained.
"If you stick to the principles of international humanitarian law, you should do it in Syria as well. Syria is the only country where this mechanism continues to operate in this somewhat ugly format," he added.