UNITED NATIONS, September 28. /TASS/. Moscow is strongly urging the global community to stop politicizing Syria’s humanitarian dilemma, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasiliy Nebenzya said at Tuesday’s Security Council meeting.
"The humanitarian situation in the country remains unremittingly precarious. We believe that it is imperative to put an end to the politicization of Syria’s humanitarian dossier, and to establish, under the leadership of the United Nations, the provision of humanitarian assistance to all Syrians in accordance with the basic principles set out in the General Assembly’s resolution 46/182," he said. "In this context, the issue of easing the anti-Syrian Western sanctions with which all international experts concur only worsen the suffering of ordinary Syrians, has not lost its urgency."
The diplomat underscored that, in this regard, the full and thorough implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 2585 - ensuring the transparency of cross-border humanitarian aid shipment - is particularly important.
Russia seeks a rapid relaunch of the direct inter-Syrian talks in Switzerland but opposes any imposition of artificial timelines, Nebenzya said.
"We hope for a quick relaunch of the direct inter-Syrian dialogue in Geneva. It is vital that this process continue to be led and managed by the Syrians themselves without foreign interference or imposition of artificial timelines but with the UN’s neutral mediation," he said.
On July 9, the Security Council adopted a resolution on further cross-border humanitarian aid for Syria. The paper was prepared by Russia, the US, Ireland and Norway. It prolongs the operation of the Bab al-Hawa checkpoint on the Syrian-Turkish border for 12 month, under the condition that the UN Secretary General presents a report on the cross-border aid mechanism in six months since the resolution’s adoption.
The final document was a compromise between the proposal of Ireland and Norway - who suggested reopening one additional checkpoint on the Iraqi border - and that of Russia, who suggested prolonging only the Bab al-Hawa operation, and only for six months.