12 July 2023; MEMO: Russia yesterday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution aimed at extending cross-border aid delivery to Syria from Turkiye through the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing. The move blocks millions of residents of the area from accessing aid.
Switzerland and Brazil had initially proposed the mechanism be extended for 12 months, but Russia insisted on only a six-month extension.
On Tuesday, 13 Security Council members voted in favour of a compromise resolution drafted by Switzerland and Brazil to extend the mechanism for nine months. China abstained and Russia vetoed. In a rival resolution, Russia insisted on only a six-month extension, but that was voted down.
Resolutions need nine votes to get through the Council and no veto by permanent members: Russia, China, France, US and UK.
After the vote, the Swiss Ambassador, Pascale Baeriswyl, said the extension "would have made it possible to get through the difficult winter months," stressing that she was "very disappointed" by the Russian veto. "We will not let this veto put an end to our efforts to find a solution," she added.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the West of "provocation" by forcing Russia to use its "veto power". He added that the mechanism "does not take into account the interests of the Syrian people at all."
The current mechanism expired on Monday.
According to United Nations estimates, 15.3 million Syrians will need protection and humanitarian assistance in 2023, the highest number since the start of the conflict in 2011.
The humanitarian mechanism allows the delivery of aid to some four million people in Syria. The long-running aid operation has been in place since 2014.
