The New York Times: Russia's veto threatens millions of Syrians with starvation, and Europe with more immigration

The New York Times said in

that the Russian "veto" against extending the Bab al-Hawa corridor from Turkey to Syria to transport humanitarian aid threatens millions of Syrians with starvation, Turkey with collapse and Europe with more immigration.

The report added that the closure of the only corridor to transport humanitarian aid to Syrians in northwestern Syria may leave millions of Syrians - whose lives have been destroyed by the war for more than a decade - without food, medicine and other supplies.

He said Russia's vote on Friday demonstrated its longstanding insistence that the track violated Syrian sovereignty, and that it was up to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to decide how to distribute foreign support.

life or death

"This was a life-or-death vote for the Syrian people, and Russia chose the last option," US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield said after the vote.

Greenfield and other diplomats have indicated that they will try to find another way to ensure Syrians continue to receive food, medicine and other aid.

The report stated that Russia had previously offered an alternative plan that would have kept the road open for 6 months, before giving the right to control humanitarian aid to the Assad government, but this proposal failed due to concerns that a short delay would create a lot of uncertainty between donors and aid groups, leading to There is a shortage of supplies, and that the road will be closed during the winter, when the Syrians are in dire need of aid.

Russian justification

In turn, Dmitry Polyansky, Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said that the one-year extension ignores Syria's interests, and that the six-month deadline would have prevented the final closure of the crossing, adding that their position was clear and known to everyone from the beginning, and that they did not mislead anyone, and urged diplomats to support the plan. Russian "if the fate of the project is important and not just a political game."

The report pointed out that more than 5.7 million Syrians have fled the country since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, and that the closure of the border crossing may force thousands more to leave, leading to another refugee crisis for countries in the Middle East and Europe.

United Nations officials described Bab al-Hawa Road as a gateway to the largest humanitarian aid operation in the world, which has transported more than 56,000 trucks of life-saving supplies to Idlib Governorate in northwestern Syria over the past eight years, noting that up to 4 million people in Syria receives aid.

Aid groups estimate that 70 percent of Syria's population does not have a reliable food supply.

Serious consequences

In turn, the head of the American branch of the Federation of Relief and Medical Care Organizations, Dr. Khawla Al-Sawah, said in a statement before the United Nations vote, "The closure of the crossing may lead to serious consequences."

Russia is one of Assad's benefactors in the war, and it used its veto in the UN Security Council to help close 3 more humanitarian corridors to Syria in 2020.

Russia agreed last year to keep Bab al-Hawa open after intense negotiations with the United States on the understanding that the mandate of the United Nations mission would expire on July 10.

Threat to Turkey

The vast majority of Syrian refugees live in Turkey, and officials have warned for years that the Syrian diaspora is pushing Turkey to the breaking point.

The report quoted current and former diplomats as saying that Russia appeared to be using the aid corridor as a bargaining chip to persuade Turkey to stand with some of Moscow's demands on the war in Ukraine, but in late June, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped his opposition to allowing Sweden and Finland to join the war. NATO, which infuriated Moscow.

Speaking to reporters after Friday's vote, Polyansky said Russia would "clearly" oppose other proposals to keep the road open if they deviated from his six-month plan.

Other diplomats indicated that efforts were being made to broker a nine-month extension, but the US ambassador said it was not clear that an agreement could be reached before the Sunday deadline.

Considering the humanitarian situation in Syria and concern for the suffering of the Syrian people, China's Ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun said negotiations could continue even after Sunday, adding that there was still some time, and called on diplomats to "not give up."