01.07.2021, Moscow.
The humanitarian crisis in Syria emerged as a result of a complex of reasons not directly related to the work of the cross-border crossing for the delivery of humanitarian aid, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in Antalya after talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the REGNUM news agency informed July 1.
“If all of us are really concerned about the humanitarian plight of the Syrian people, we should analyse all the reasons that have created this situation,” Lavrov said.
The diplomat listed US anti-Syrian sanctions, the blocking of Syrian bank assets abroad and the refusal to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria through Damascus and on to the contact lines in regions being not under the Syrian authorities’ control as reasons for the crisis.
“Starting with the sanctions, including the absolutely stifling and inhumane Caesar Act, which was adopted by the Trump administration, the illegal seizure of Syrian assets in foreign banks at Washington’s request (this is simply plunder), and our partners’ refusal to ensure the delivery of international organisations’ humanitarian aid through Damascus,” the Russian Foreign Minister explained.
On July 10, the UN mandate on approval of the Bab al-Hawa on the Syrian-Turkish border as a formal humanitarian crossing point expires. Western countries insist that the cross-border authorization must be renewed, and the Al-Arubiya crossing on Syria’s border with Iraq must be opened in addition to it.
Russia opposes the cross-border mechanism for delivering aid to Syria because it violates international humanitarian law and the UN is unable to control these cargo flows, turning the cross-border mechanism into a way to supply Syrian terrorists.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
