UN aid official Mark Lowcock urged the UN Security Council on Wednesday not to cut the "lifeline" across the border for nearly three million Syrians in the north of the country, amidst skepticism from Russia, a veto-holding member, about the significance of this operation. Lowcock told the council, "We would like to see more aid across the lines (of conflict) and more aid across the border. The cross-border operation, which is a lifeline for over three million people, has no alternative." He added, "We look to this council to ensure that this lifeline is not cut."
The Security Council, comprising 15 countries, first authorized the cross-border aid operation to Syria in 2014 through four points. Last year, the authorization was restricted to a single crossing point from Turkey due to opposition from Russia and China regarding the renewal of authorization for the four points. A further confrontation is likely regarding the renewal of the operation's mandate, which expires on July 10 next year. Issuing a resolution to extend the mandate requires the approval of nine members and no veto from any of the five permanent members of the Security Council: Russia, China, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom.
Several member countries are pushing for an increase in the number of cross-border aid points. Richard Mills, the Deputy US Ambassador to the UN, told the council on Wednesday, "If we don’t, people will die. It’s that simple. One crossing point cannot meet the tremendous needs of the Syrian people." Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, accused his Western counterparts of ignoring the importance of delivering aid across frontline lines from Damascus, suggesting that this "shows they do not intend to take any steps that would cause problems for the fighters entrenched in Idlib." He stated to the council, "This hypocritical offer of the case is an issue we cannot agree with. It is clear that we will have to take it into account when making decisions regarding the extension of the cross-border mechanism."
The council has been divided over the past ten years on how to deal with Syria, with Russia and China, allies of Damascus, opposing Western member states. Russia has vetoed 16 resolutions regarding Syria, with China supporting many of those votes.
