Statement by Ambassador Vassily A. Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at the Security Council meeting on Syria
At the outset, I should like to extend our gratitude to all of those delegations that have voiced their condolences in connection with the tragedy that occurred yesterday in the skies over Syria.
We thank Mr. Staffan de Mistura and Mr. Mark Lowcock for their briefings. Yesterday, in Sochi, yet another historic milestone was achieved with respect to developments in the situation in Syria, namely, the Russian-Turkish summit, which resulted in the signing of a memorandum on stabilizing the situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
Together with our Turkish partners, we will submit that document for distribution as an official document of the Security Council. Key components of the memorandum include maintenance of the de-escalation zone and the establishment within it a demilitarized zone that will help carry out focused work to ensure a sustained cessation of hostilities. At the same time, it confirms the determination to continue fighting terrorism in Syria in all its forms and manifestations. Uncompromising and consistent struggle against terrorism remains among the chief obligations of all States Members of the United Nations.
he document is a confirmation that Russia, together with other Astana guarantors, continues to undertake tremendous efforts to ensure that the situation around Idlib will be resolved through negotiations and that the civilian population will not suffer, as we described to our partners and have been describing all of this time. Efforts aimed at seeking an optimal solution will continue. Regardless of what some may state due to envy or from mere impotence, the Astana format remains a functional and effective mechanism. We thank our Kazakh colleagues for their contribution to its establishment. On the whole, our view is that the situation on the ground has set the stage for a meaningful political process. That, too, is largely to the credit of the Astana trio. We will persevere in our efforts aimed at facilitating the establishment of a constitutional committee made up of representatives of the Syrian leadership, opposition forces and civil society.
The challenge and objective is to ensure the beginning of the committee’s work as soon as possible. We call for attempts at destructive intervention in this sensitive process to be abandoned and for attempts to impose contrived, ill-conceived configurations to be set aside. They only slow down the formulation of balanced solutions and undermine the achievement of a sustained, lasting settlement. I wish to tell Mr. De Mistura that it is perhaps not worth using the Security Council to exert pressure on the guarantors.
They are doing more for the political process than anybody present in the Chamber. It is important for him to facilitate — and not to lead — the process. Syrian decisions need to be owned by the Syrian people themselves, as is stipulated under resolution 2254 (2015), to which we all, including Mr. De Mistura, frequently refer.
We call upon all those who do not intend to make progress on scenarios in a way that runs counter to the genuine desires of the Syrian people, who do not intend to embroil themselves in political engineering, to help, or at least not obstruct, the activities of the guarantor countries of the Astana process designed to launch what is necessary for Syria, the Middle East region and the entire international community, namely, a comprehensive political process based on the decisions of the Congress of the Syrian National Dialogue in Sochi and Security Council resolutions on Syria.
Our approaches to tackling humanitarian issues in Syria remain unchanged. We believe that it is unseemly, to put it mildly, to selectively approach the delivery of assistance to the Syrian population. It is unacceptable to blatantly politicize issues pertaining to the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the rebuilding of what was destroyed by terrorists, upholding the inalienable right of refugees and internally displaced persons to return to their homes.
Unfortunately, unbalanced policies in Syrian affairs emerge more often than not. In particular, having read the report of the Secretary-General on the humanitarian situation in Syria, we have been unable to find anything about issues pertaining to access by humanitarian workers to a number of areas beyond the control of Damascus, including those occupied by the coalition in breach of Syria’s sovereignty. There has been no mention of what took place, and what continues to take place, in Raqqa.
Yet it is known that the bodies of the dead are still being retrieved from under the rubble after the so-called coalition razed the city to the ground, having liberated it from terrorists and, while they were at it, from civilians. I do not recall a call for the protection of refugees being issued at that time. Apparently, some have a selective approach to humanitarian affairs. There has been no progress in delivering vital supplies to the residents of the Rukban camp, which is located in an enclosed zone around the United States At Tanf military base. Indeed, Mr. Lowcock mentioned both Raqqa and Rukban in his briefing.
Once again, we would draw attention to the fact that the value of the conduct of cross-border operations in the light of developments on the ground has been exaggerated. This is a mechanism that has been introduced as an extraordinary measure. It is not transparent and blatantly undermines Syria’s sovereignty. It is important to move towards its eventual drawdown. It is also important to promptly rebuild the Syrian economy, and especially areas most severely affected by the hostilities there. It is necessary to eschew double standards and politically tinged conditions. Many reject such approaches. That was confirmed during last week’s sixtieth annual Damascus International Fair with the participation of official representatives and companies from 48 States. It is high time to acknowledge the fact that unilateral sanctions imposed by a number of States undermine, not the regime, as they have called it, but are detrimental above all to ordinary Syrian citizens.
This is a vicious and counterproductive practice, not only in the Syrian context but in other contexts as well. The Russian Federation will continue to provide assistance to Syria on the political and humanitarian fronts. With the assistance of the Russian Centre for Refugee Reception, Distribution and Settlement, Syrians continue to return from Lebanon and Jordan. Overall, since 18 July, approximately 13,500 refugees have returned to Syria, and 243,000 people have returned since 30 September 2015. Furthermore, since 1 January, about 149,000 internally displaced persons have returned to their homes, and since 30 September 2015, 1.2 million people have returned.
Furthermore, the Syrian authorities are implementing socioeconomic measures geared towards generating momentum for rebuilding key infrastructure in the country. Those measures also aim to continue the delivery of comprehensive humanitarian assistance to civilians. Since September 2015, about 30,000 residential structures have been rebuilt or renovated, as well as more than 5,000 educational and 150 medical institutions.
For our part, during that period, Russia organized and conducted 1,935 humanitarian operations, during which over 3,000 tons of food and basic necessities were provided and distributed. Russian military medical personnel delivered assistance to approximately 93,000 Syrians. Despite the general trend towards greater stabilization, the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic on the whole remains tense. Fighters continue to intensively shell Syrian army positions and residential areas in Government-controlled territory from the Idlib de-escalation zone.
In August, there were 554 violations of the cessation-of-hostilities regime by illegal armed groups with the use of mortars, anti-aircraft and heavy machine guns, as a result of which 29 people were killed and 71 were wounded. As a consequence of terrorist bombardments, civilians continue to perish. On 7 September, terrorists using multiple-launch rocket systems in Maharda killed nine civilians, including five women and three children. Approximately 30 people were wounded. On 13 September, when terrorists used improvised launchers in Aleppo, a child was killed and 13 people were injured. At the same time, fighters continue to launch unmanned attack aerial vehicles in the direction of the Russian Khmeimim air base.
Since July, Russian air defence has destroyed 58 such drones. In addition, the Idlib de-escalation zone fighters and White Helmet activists continue preparations with a view to staging the use of chemical weapons. There is information that such fabrications were already filmed in Jisr ash-Shugur and Khan Shaykhoun. Syrians, including children who had been abducted from Idlib and Aleppo, were forced to participate. There is also evidence that the Al-Nusra Front recently provided barrels of chlorine to Jaysh Al-Izza in Al-Lataminah, and Kafr Zita. We once again draw attention to that fact, about which we have repeatedly warned.
The fighters’ activities are fuelled from abroad, and that is also being reinforced in the light of blatant disregard for Syria’s sovereignty, which Damascus has a legitimate right to protect through the means available to it, by those who advocate a credible peace process. Facilitating extremists, even indirectly, is unacceptable. We note that those who became involved in the Syrian crisis are finally realizing the mistake of relying on extremists. Some States have initiated relevant proceedings to clarify the role of certain Governments in supporting groups tha thad tarnished themselves by cooperating with terrorists and through their numerous violations of international humanitarian law.
We hope that those proceedings will be carried through to their logical conclusion. We heard concerns today that the Syrian conflict is liable to lead to more serious regional consequences. That is also a concern to us, and we see that some of our partners are using Syria as a springboard to unleash more dangerous conflict with far-reaching, unpredictable consequences.
In that connection, we would like to call once again for genuinely collective efforts to be carried out with regard to all conflicts in the region, especially along counter-terrorism lines, and to abandon attempts to resolve issues in Syria behind Syria’s back.
