The UN envoy to Syria, Ger Pederson, told the UN Security Council on Thursday that the "anti-terrorist" operations carried out by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad with the support of Russia can not justify endangering three million civilians in the Idlib region.
At the initiative of Belgium, Kuwait and Germany, the Security Council is voting, at an unspecified date, on a draft resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in northwestern Syria while protecting civilian facilities, especially medical facilities, and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout Syria.
Russia and the veto
"We have the impression that every time military initiatives take place on the ground, there are projects like this," said the Russian envoy to the United Nations, adding that they would study the text to see if it was "necessary or not."
Russia has used the veto 12 times in the Security Council to block the adoption of resolutions on Syria.
"If jihadist attacks must stop," Pederson said, "counter-terrorism operations" cannot endanger three million civilians entitled to protection under humanitarian law.
"The Security Council can now take concrete measures to protect civilians and ensure full respect for international humanitarian law," said Mark Luckock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, noting that two-thirds of the besieged civilians in Idlib are women and children.
US Ambassador Jonathan Cohen said the Syrian regime and Russia "are not honest when they say they are not seeking a military solution to the conflict," stressing that his country "rejects the pretext of counter-terrorism operations." "What we are witnessing is not anti-terrorist operations."