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.
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