The Russian Foreign Ministry: The West bargains over the needs of the earthquake victims in Syria

The Russian Foreign Ministry  has affirmed that the West is bargaining over the needs of the earthquake victims in Syria, and is seeking to push the UN Security Council to expand the so-called “cross-border aid mechanism”.

“Some Western countries, led by the United States, continue to violate the principles of the international humanitarian law, encroach on Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and speculate about its needs as a result of the earthquake without waiting for the report of the United Nations committee on assessing the damage,” the Ministry was quoted as saying in a statement today.

The statement referred to the active visits that were registered in the Security Council, and led by Washington during such a difficult stage, to press for a new document and expand this mechanism.

In turn, the Russian Deputy Representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, confirmed that the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria does not require a Security Council resolution, because it is a purely sovereign Syrian decision. He explained, “There is a big difference between the mechanism of delivering humanitarian aid across the borders, that violates Syria’s sovereignty, and Syria’s sovereign decision.”