US, western countries impede Syria’s efforts to achieve independent development: Nebenzia

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia has affirmed that the United States and the western countries are impeding Syria’s efforts to pursue an independent policy and obtain its right to development.

Nebenzia said during a Security Council meeting that “Syria has always sought to pursue an independent policy, and therefore the United States and its allied have been seeking to deprive the country from its right to independent development,” urging the UN Secretariat not to provide a cover for Washington and Brussels in this regard.

Nebenzia pointed out that the United States and the European Union are not only undermining the UN humanitarian efforts on the ground, they are also undermining the image of this global organization as a whole.

He said that “despite the so-called “humanitarian exemptions”, heavy construction equipment, which is necessary to remove rubble in the earthquake-damaged areas, cannot yet be delivered to Syria, stressing that sanctions also prevent fertilizers from reaching the country.

Hamda Mustafa