The United Nations proposes to the Security Council that the Assad regime participate in humanitarian aid
Yesterday, Thursday, the United Nations proposed to the Security Council the idea of the Assad regime’s participation in distributing humanitarian aid to the Syrians, after a similar proposal to the United States, due to Russia’s insistence on closing the only crossing, “Bab al-Hawa” and trying to impose visions and a mechanism that serve its interests.
In a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, the spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Stephane Dujarric, called on the UN Security Council to extend the cross-border humanitarian aid mechanism to Syria, and to involve the Assad regime in its supervision.
“There is a need to continue distributing aid, and we also want to provide aid across the lines, ie under the supervision of the Assad regime, although there are more challenges there because of the ongoing fighting,” Dujarric said.
Dujarric stressed, “From the current July 7, the humanitarian response plan in Syria for this year has been funded with an amount of $728.4 million, and this represents about 17 percent of the total $4.2 billion required for 2021.”
Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said that his country is confident that Russian and American diplomats can reach a compromise on the issue of crossings.
Antonov added, “It is difficult to predict today the outcome of discussions in the Security Council,” calling for giving time to the Russian and American teams to find a solution to this issue.
Today, the Security Council is voting on a draft resolution submitted by Norway and Ireland to extend the entry of aid into Syria through the “Bab al-Hawa” crossing for a year, and to reopen the border point with Iraq in Yarubiyah, where the current mandate expires on July 10.
