The UN Security Council delayed a vote on a resolution demanding a 30-day humanitarian ceasefire across Syria until yesterday in the hopes of closing a gap over the timing for a halt to fighting.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia has called an immediate ceasefire unrealistic, and in an apparent bid to get Russian support, sponsors Kuwait and Sweden amended the draft resolution to drop a demand that the ceasefire take effect 72 hours after the resolution’s adoption.
Instead, the new text circulated on Friday night “demands that all parties cease hostilities without delay.”
Photo: AFP
Earlier, after six hours of negotiations, Kuwaiti Ambassador to the UN Mansour al-Otaiba, the current council president, told reporters on Friday evening that members “are so close” to agreement and negotiations are continuing.
He said the council was to meet at noon yesterday and there was to be a vote.
The latest draft resolution says a ceasefire must be followed immediately by access for humanitarian convoys and medical teams to evacuate the critically ill and wounded.
It states that 5.6 million people in 1,244 communities are in “acute need,” including 2.9 million in hard-to-reach and besieged locations.
A Russian-proposed amendment, which the sponsors rejected, would have ruled out an immediate ceasefire. Instead, it would have demanded that all parties “stop hostilities as soon as possible” and work for a “humanitarian pause” for at least 30 days.
Swedish Ambassador to the UN Olof Skoog echoed al-Otaiba, telling reporters that council members have been “very, very close” to agreement, “but we have not been able to close the gap completely.”
Skoog said he was “extremely frustrated” that the council was unable to adopt the resolution on Thursday or Friday, because the situation on the ground is dire and demands immediate council action.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who did not participate in Friday’s negotiations, said on Twitter: “Unbelievable that Russia is stalling a vote on a ceasefire allowing humanitarian access in Syria. How many more people will die before the Security Council agrees to take up this vote?”
Sweden, Kuwait and their council supporters have been pressing for immediate action as deaths mount in a Syrian bombing campaign in the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus.
“It is about saving lives,” Skoog said earlier. “UN convoys and evacuation teams are ready to go. It’s time for the council to come together and shoulder its responsibility to urgently avert a situation that is beyond words in its desperation.”
The draft resolution would authorize one exemption from the ceasefire.
It would allow attacks directed at extremists from the Islamic State group and all al-Qaeda affiliates to continue.
The latest draft resolution does include several other Russian proposals.
It stresses the need for “guarantees” from nations with influence on government and opposition forces to support and create conditions for a lasting ceasefire. The sponsors also added language expressing “outrage” at the shelling of Damascus, including on diplomatic premises, which is a proposal Russia wanted.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese