Vasily Nebenzya, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, described the attempt to reopen a second crossing from Iraq to Syria for delivering humanitarian aid as futile. He mentioned that discussions are only focused on a potential extension of the UN mandate for aid delivery through a crossing with Turkey. The UN has appealed to the Security Council to extend the mandate for delivering aid and relief operations to Syria, set to expire on July 10, warning that failure to extend it would be devastating for millions of lives.
The Security Council is negotiating a draft resolution proposed by Ireland and Norway, aimed at authorizing aid delivery through two crossings, one from Turkey and the other from Iraq. Russia, a veto-holding ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has questioned the importance of cross-border relief operations, asserting that aid can be delivered to northern Syria from the capital, Damascus.
The council first authorized cross-border relief operations for Syria in 2014 through four crossings. Last year, the number was reduced to one crossing from Turkey to areas controlled by armed opposition in Syria due to Russian and Chinese opposition to renewing the mandate for all four crossings. Nebenzya stated, "What our colleagues say about reopening the closed crossings is truly futile. We are discussing the remaining crossing." He added, "The operations were proposed under exceptional circumstances when there was no way to reach many areas in Syria... but, of course, these operations are outdated and will eventually cease."
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield criticized the draft resolution for only seeking a mandate for two crossings rather than three. She stated on Friday, "The worsening suffering and dire conditions for millions in Syria require the Security Council to do more." Passing any resolution requires the support of nine votes in the Security Council and no objections from any of the five permanent members holding veto power: Russia, China, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. Over the past decade, Russia has blocked 16 resolutions related to Syria, supported by China in many of those instances.
