Cooperation with Damascus clue to Syria’s humanitarian crisis - Russia’s UN deputy envoy

UNITED NATIONS, February 27. /TASS/. Unites Nations’ constructive interaction with Damascus remains one of the key conditions for resolving the humanitarian crisis in Syria, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Vladimir Safronkov told a meeting of the world organisation’s Security Council on Thursday. "We call on the agencies reporting to the UN to support constructive interaction with Syria’s authorities," Safronkov said. "We are confident that it remains one of the chief conditions for enhancing constructive humanitarian cooperation and for solving the humanitarian crisis. We are negotiating with the Syrian government for its closer contacts with UN humanitarian agencies." Evidently, "troubles, civilians in the Syrian Arab Republic face in the sphere of access to humanitarian aid, have rooted in a complicated security situation, first of all in the activity of terroristic organisations," he said expressing his deep concern over the situation in the IS-controlled Syrian cities of Rakka and Deir ez-Zor. Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kyung-Wha Kang told the 15-member Security Council that "Some 600,000 people have not received food assistance in the governorates since last December." "We deeply resent the reports that the Islamic State actually steals relief aid from the UN agents and then distributes it with their own logotypes," Safronkov said. "We quite understand that all legal means for supplying the civilians, who are under the terrorists’ control, with humanitarian aid should be applied but under a condition of ensuring the relevant guarantees so that such incidents would never happen again." Safronkov strongly criticised UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s recent report on the humanitarian situation in Syria, in which militants were called "opposition." The Russian diplomat urged the UN SC "to provide an adequate evaluation of terrorists and their actions." "It is inadmissible to name as ‘opposition’ Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State that the UN has put on a sanctions list," he said. "It is categorically unacceptable and politically incorrect. This should never happen again." Safronkov called inadmissible that residential areas in Syrian cities had been bombarded with mortars and homemade weapons. "These bombardments have left over 1,000 people killed, including children, and another 200 wounded," he said. "We call on both parties to the Syrian conflict - the Syrian government and opposition - to comply with UN SC resolutions and to observe international humanitarian law." Read more