Remarks to the press by Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, following the Security Council meeting on Syria
Q: Ambassador, is it a good day for you?
V.Churkin: Not really. It is not a good day for everybody. Some countries have lost control of the situation, now their representatives are losing control of themselves. It is not helpful. Exchange of views is always helpful, but basically I’m afraid it was a wasted effort, because if we had taken some additional time to consult, I’m sure we could have produced a better result.
First of all, they needed to have looked closer at the de Mistura proposal, because in their draft they fully ignore this proposal, and it sounds very strange, because it was a very sincere effort from de Mistura to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Eastern Aleppo. The fact that they disregarded his proposal shows to me that their idea was not really about Eastern Aleppo. They are lost. But we are trying to bring them back on track. And as I said in the Council, various contacts continue, so we hope that we can return to a more constructive mode of operation.
Q: Ambassador, is this the end of diplomacy?
V.Churkin: No, it is not. It’s just the end of one very weird meeting of the Security Council.
Q: Think there will be a meeting on Yemen?
V.Churkin: I heard the reports but I would have hoped that by the end of this meeting the British delegation, being a penholder on Yemen, would have produced at least a draft press-statement condemning the bombing of the mourning procession and those who support and supply the people who have conducted this operation. But I’m afraid that this may not be happening anytime soon.
