Lavrentiev: It’s time to block cross-border aid delivery mechanism into Syria
The Russian Special Envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, stressed that the time has come to block the cross-border aid mechanism into Syria, without the Assad regime’s approval.
Lavrentiev said at the beginning of the 18th round of “Astana” talks which held yesterday in the Kazakh capital Nursultan: Russia isn’t satisfied with extending the cross-border aid delivery mechanism, and it should be delivered through Assad regime. He pointed out that the Security Council took this measure of cross-border aid delivery years ago as “a temporary measure”.
Lavrentiev confirmed that the Western countries didn’t contribute to ease the sanctions imposed on Assad regime, and it is the time that the assistance should be passed legally through the Assad regime.
He added that all the commitments made by the West a year before to implement the early recovery and reconstruction projects in Syria hadn’t been implemented, so in light of these circumstances, it is likely that we will consider reducing the border crossing mechanism.
He stressed that his country would stand against and oppose extending the UN mandate for cross-border assistance, if it remained in its current format, and new mechanisms for the mandate might be proposed.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in July 2021, to extend the aid delivery to Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey for an additional year in two phases, each lasting six months.
