Explanation of vote by Chargé d'Affaires of the Russian Federation Dmitry Polyanskiy after UNSC vote on a draft resolution on renewal of the cross-border mechanism of humanitarian deliveries for Syria (put forward by Ireland and Norway)
Mr.President,
The delegation of Russia supported the adoption of a draft resolution put forward by the penholders of the Syrian humanitarian file in the Security Council, Ireland and Norway. This resolution will extend the operation of the cross-border mechanism of humanitarian deliveries for Syria until January 2023.
We sense some disappointment of our Western colleagues who regret that their vision of the CBM renewal did not pass. But the world is not limited to Western states or the fabled “golden billion”, as Washington, London, and Paris must have imagined. It is high time you started respecting the interests of others states, especially those whom Security Council’s decisions touch upon in the first place.
Colleagues,
Having discovered the optimal pattern for the renewal of the CBM, we gave a second chance to the faithful implementation of all aspects of the resolution that are related to the mechanism during the next six months.
We will employ the potential of informal interactive dialogues in the Security Council in order to keep track of the progress of the resolution that we adopted today and determine the future of the CBM. We are convinced that only a frank and substantive dialogue about the problems at the Syrian humanitarian track, where all interested stakeholders should take part, will help us make a well-weighed decision once this half-year period is over. As we learned from practice, special reports of the Secretary-General are not sufficient to that end.
There is a huge bulk of work that we need to do now at many pivotal tracks, among them enhancing cross-line deliveries to all regions of Syria. We also call on the Secretary-General to pay specific attention to the need to lift unilateral sanctions in the context of COVID-19 consequences that have not been overcome yet. We need to work diligently to eradicate this problem in Syria, which will give donors more opportunity to invest in early recovery projects in this Arab country.
We will closely follow the implementation of these tasks, and we do hope that by January 2023 the Secretary-General provides the Council with exhaustive information regarding the work performed.
Thank you.
