Russia Vetoes UN Security Council Resolution on Cross-border Aid to Syria
On Friday, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended cross-border aid to Syria from Turkey.
The current aid, which expires today, delivers food, medicine, and shelter to around 4.1 million Syrians in the rebel-held northwest. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield has warned that “people will die because of this vote.”
Almost all council members favored a yearlong extension of the aid deliveries but Russia demanded a six-month renewal.
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After days of debate, Russia had vetoed a proposal for a one-year extension, putting forward their own draft resolution, which failed on Friday after only Russia and China voted in favor. The United States, Britain, and France voted against the Russian text, stating that a six-month extension was not long enough for aid groups to plan and operate effectively.
Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said the only solution that Moscow would not veto was its own.
Russia, a close ally of Syria’s government, argues that the UN aid operation violates Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It has repeatedly called for humanitarian aid deliveries to come from within Syria, giving Syrian President Assad’s government more control over the northwest.
In 2014, the Security Council authorized humanitarian aid deliveries into opposition-held areas of Syria from Iraq, Jordan, and two points in Turkey. However, veto powers Russia and China have since reduced that to one Turkish border point.
