French Draft UNSC Resolution Was of Politicized, Unbalanced Nature- Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW- Russia has tried to reach a compromise on the France-drafted resolution on Aleppo but the efforts were rejected by those who think about the change of power in Damascus but not about sufferings of Syrians, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a commentary posted on its Facebook official page on Saturday, according to Itar Tass.

“The Russian Federation voted against the France-initiated draft resolution on the situation in Syria at the UN Security Council,” it says in a commentary. “The text (of the resolution) indulged by Washington and submitted (to the UN Security Council) immediately after the United States had refused to implement the Russian-US agreements on the Syria settlement, has grossly distorted the actual state of affairs and was of a politicized, unbalanced and one-sided nature.”

 According to the ministry, the draft claimed that “the whole blame for escalation of tensions in the Syrian Arab Republic was shouldered on the country’s authorities.”

Cover-up for terrorists

Russia’s Foreign Ministry sharply criticized a proposal to introduce a no-flight zone over Aleppo. “In the meantime, (in the draft resolution), a blatant attempt was made, by banning flights over Aleppo, to provide a cover-up for “Jabhat al-Nusra” terrorists and militants merged with them, in spite of the UN member-states’ obligations to combat the terrorist threat with the use of all available means,” the ministry said.

The France-drafted resolution completely effaced the fact that the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo had been provoked artificially when in August and September the militants refused to let the humanitarian convoys pass and were threatening to open fire at them, it said. The talks on resumption of intra-Syrian political process were ignored in the resolution.

An attempt for compromise

Russia tried to amend the politicized approach of the resolution’s authors, insisting on adding to it a requirement on separating terrorists from “moderate opposition”, on unblocking traffic in Castello road, and on preserving the tools of monitoring the ceasefire and the settlement of crisis in Syria defined by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) that are based on the UN SC resolutions.

“Seeking not to split the Security Council, we have suggested a compromise version of the resolution,” the ministry said. “However, co-authors of the French project, encouraged by rabid critics of Damascus, failed to show political wisdom.”

“An abortive attempt to abuse the Security Council’s authority has confirmed that the initiators of the France-drafted resolution have been obsessed with an idea of unconstitutional change of power in Syria through a resource of terrorist international, receiving generous funding from abroad,” it said.

Russia set to continue work on Syria

The foreign ministry said that Moscow abstained from the Syria conflict for four years and interfered only at Damascus’ request. Nonetheless, it would be impermissible to leave the country to terrorists’ mercy nowadays.

“Regretting profoundly about the damage inflicted on the efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria by supporters of the confrontation, Russia confirms its adamant adherence to a search for long-lasting political solution to the Syrian conflict,” the foreign ministry said.

“We are ready for constructive joint work in the interests of responsible implementation of already reached agreements and coordination of extra steps which will allow Syrians to determine the future of their country through talks of all political, ethnic and religious groups without any external interference,” it said.

H.M