Russia Regrets UN Failure to Provide Relief to Eastern Aleppo

MOSCOW- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov expressed regret on Wednesday over the failure by the United Nations to use humanitarian pauses in Syria’s city of Aleppo to deliver relief to local residents, according o Sputnik.

Gatilov held consultations on Wednesday with Deputy UN Special Envoy for Syria, Ambassador Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, focusing on the revival of the political process in Syria amid a prolonged suspension of intra-Syrian reconciliation talks.

“The Russian side expressed regret that the humanitarian pauses in Syria’s Aleppo have not been used to deliver humanitarian aid to eastern parts of the city and to evacuate wounded and sick from there,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

 Russian Foreign Ministry: UN committee resolution against Syria is hostile

Also, the Russian Foreign Ministry affirmed that the resolution of one of the UN General Assembly’s committees on the situation in Aleppo is hostile and will not contribute to facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid to Aleppo, SANA reported.

In a statement on Wednesday, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights Anatoly Viktorov said that Russia calls on all the countries concerned, including those who already voted for the draft resolution against Syria, to prove by action not words their adherence to the crisis settlement in Syria and the elimination of the terrorist threat in the country.

Viktorov pointed out that this resolution will not contribute to the expulsion of terrorist organizations from the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo as it will not create the necessary circumstances to comply with the international law.

He called on all countries to work to force out Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization and its allies from the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo where thousands of civilians are under siege by terrorists who are also hindering the humanitarian endeavors.

Viktorov noted that Russia has taken the necessary measures to facilitate the humanitarian situation in Aleppo in cooperation with the Syrian government, UN and other international partners.

The 3rd committee on human rights of the UN General Assembly adopted three politicized non-binding resolutions against Syria, Russia and Iran, approving a draft resolution by the Saudi delegation on the situation in Aleppo that does not mention terrorists and their acts, particularly taking civilians as human shields and using chemical weapons against residential neighborhoods in Aleppo.

For his part, Iran’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gholam Hussein Dehghani affirmed that the resolution of one of the UN General Assembly’s committees on Syria yesterday was political, unfair and contrary to the principles of international law and proves the organization’s lack of credibility.

 “Who can believe that the main supporters of this resolution, specifically the Saudi regime, are concerned about the human rights in Syria while a year and a half has been passed since they have been destroying Yemen via air bombardment targeting residential neighborhoods and populated areas, killing women and children in addition to their continued support to terrorists in Syria and elsewhere in the world,” Dehghani said in a statement.

H.M