Russia Blocks French Resolution on Syria

NEW YORK, (ST)- Russia has vetoed a French draft Resolution on Syria at the Security Council after it has stressed that the draft contained a number of unacceptable provisions.

Moscow also submitted another Syria-related draft resolution as an alternative for the French one, but it was also blocked by the United States, France and Britain.

 The Russian draft calls for adopting the US-Russian agreement  as a guide to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid. It urges all parties to immediately abide by the cessation of hostilities and stresses the need to ensure that the so-called “moderate opposition” is separated from the “Jabhat al-Nusra” terrorist organization.  

Russia’s draft resolution also welcomes the recent initiative made by the UN Chief’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistrura, in which he urged the terrorists of “Jabhat al-Nusra” to leave Eastern Aleppo neighborhoods. The draft asks the United Nations to draw up a detailed plan to implement this initiative.

Moscow has affirmed that the French draft resolution contains a number of unacceptable items for Russia and it politicizes the humanitarian issue to a large extent

In his statement before the voting on the French draft resolution on Saturday, the Russian envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin said that all members of the UNSC understood from the beginning that both draft resolutions (the French and the Russian) would not go through.

He pointed out that France hasn’t submitted any constructive initiative since the start of the crisis in Syria, noting that the French efforts were confined to hostile actions.

Churkin went on to say that Russia has stressed that it will veto the French draft as “we didn’t find what can convince us about the need to impose a no- fly zone over the city of Aleppo.”

Venezuela voted against the French draft resolution while China and Angola abstained from voting.

Hamda Mustafa