Russian Federation vetoes United Nations resolution to save war-torn Aleppo

Oct 16, 2016, 01:11
Russian Federation vetoes United Nations resolution to save war-torn Aleppo

Eleven of the 15 council members voted in favor of the draft resolution. Security Council resolutions need at least nine votes in favour and no veto to pass.

China's permanent representative to the UN Liu Jieyi expressed on Saturday its support towards the Russia-drafted resolution in relation to the ongoing war in Syria.

Angola also abstained, while Venezuela joined Russian Federation in voting against the text.

USA deputy ambassador David Pressman followed up saying Russian Federation and Syria will undoubtedly claim that any devastation in Aleppo that "they are raining down is directed at terrorists", not at the civilian buildings they are clearly striking. He had also emphasized the importance of the humanitarian task force, as well as the possibility of a body that would effectively and "perhaps more stringently" support future cessation of hostilities.

It was the fifth time Moscow used its veto to block United Nations action to end the five-year war in Syria, which has claimed 300,000 lives.

Well over 200,000 people are believed to have died.

"Everyone knows that there is only one way to save Aleppo and that is for an immediate end to the aerial bombardment that the Syrian regime and their Russian backers are pursuing", Rycroft said Saturday.

Russia's United Nations ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current rotating council president, called the vote a "waste of time" and "inadmissible", claiming the Security Council met knowing that neither resolution would be adopted.

Moscow submitted a draft resolution of its own, which also urged for the end of violence in Aleppo but with an emphasis on continued fight against terrorists, the term used by Russian Federation and the Syrian regime in reference to all groups opposed to the Bashar Assad. In Saturday's vote, the draft resolution got four "yes" votes, nine "no" votes and two abstentions.

New Zealand Ambassador to the United Nations Gerard van Bohemen told the Security Council that Russia's actions were deepening divides within the Council, and had hamstrung efforts to help the situation in Syria.

The army launched its assault on the besieged sector of Aleppo more than two weeks ago with the backing of Russian air strikes, aiming to reunite the city which was Syria's economic hub before its conflict erupted in 2011. "What Russia wants is for there to be more talk, while they seek to take the city by brutal force".

"Our draft today - which, as I said, we weren't expecting it would be adopted, it was just a political demonstration, if you like - it was attempting to retain the multilateral format", said Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin.

Charbonneau said the ball is now in the court of the UN General Assembly, urging it to hold an emergency meeting and "demand an end to unlawful attacks on civilians in Aleppo, 100,000 of whom are children, and explore avenues for accountability".

It is not clear how Mr Kerry thinks a war crimes investigation might be carried out in the face of Russian opposition, according to the New York Times.

"In maximum two months, two-and-a-half months, the city of eastern Aleppo may be totally destroyed", said de Mistura.

"The current times are different and more risky".

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