For the second time this week, Russia and China blocked a last-ditch attempt by the 13-Western countries of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to extend humanitarian aid delivery, crossing two Turkish borders, into Syria for the coming six months.
The approval of extending the humanitarian aid delivery to Syria expires on Friday.
The UNSC described the aid being delivered from Turkey as a “lifeline” for the millions of Syrians living in the northwest region of the country.
The security council has now unsuccessfully voted four times on this resolution as the committee has been split amongst the 15-members where 13 member vote opposite to that of the Syrian allies Russia and China.
Russia’s draft resolution, which China backs, states cutting the number of border crossings into Syria to one. The Russian resolution argues that the Syrian areas can be reached with humanitarian help from within Syria itself.
In January, Russia and China’s opposition had led to the halt in aid deliveries for Syria from the Jordan and Iraq crossings, resulting in the six-year-long cross-border aid operation being cut from these two areas.
Diplomats stated that they would further work to see if a compromise could be met among council members.