Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UN Security Council briefing on the situation in Syria
Mr. President,
We thank Mr. Geir Pedersen, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, and Mr. Ramesh Rajasingham, OCHA Director of Coordination, for their briefings on the political and humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic.
The already challenging situation on Syrian soil is exacerbating due to the intensifying hostilities in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone. While carrying out its brutal military operation in the OPT, Israel continues to attack sovereign Syria, including its capital, almost on a weekly basis, inter alia by using Lebanese airspace without authorization. Almost every time those attacks kill people. Regrettably, the Council regards this news as routine. We see no willingness to discuss these numerous incidents at an separate Security Council meeting, despite the fact that this is a flagrant violation of international law. Our western colleagues would certainly not put up with a similar situation in other regions. I have no doubt that none of them will mention today, for example, that on September 8th the Israeli Air Force carried out a series of strikes in Hama province, killing 16 people and destroying a water supply system and power lines that provided water and electricity for a number of water pumping substations in the town of Salhab. According to media reports, an Israeli strike on a car near Damascus airport today killed one person and injured another one.
I will not touch upon the tragic events that have occurred in Syria and Lebanon over the last three days, as we will discuss them in detail during today’s afternoon meeting of the Security Council. I will only say that, given the increasing regional tensions, such illegitimate and irresponsible actions have the potential to spark a full-blown war in Middle East. We strongly condemn them.
Mr. President,
The internal political and socio-economic situation in Syria is being further destabilized by the United States and its allies that are adding fuel to the fire by using terrorists in the areas of their illegal military presence in the areas across the Euphrates and Al-Tanf, thus making the situation in the country even more complicated. Idlib is another hotbed of terrorism, with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham terrorists hunkered down there, thanks to the support from Western members of the Council. In this regard, I would like to draw your attention to the extremely disturbing information coming from various sources, according to which the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is recruiting and training these terrorists for subsequent action in Ukraine. We warned that, with their unbridled support, the Western masters of the Kiev regime are nurturing a new terrorist threat hotbed in Europe. Now, this regime is trying to engage with the listed terrorists entrenched in Idlib. Well, like draws to like.
Mr. President, distinguished Colleagues,
Syria’s stability is crucial to improving the overall situation in the Middle East. Not until the unlawful foreign military presence, which violates its sovereignty and territorial integrity, ends, and the provocative strikes on its territory finally cease, can that country attain durable stability.
We must provide our solidarity support for a direct inter-Syrian dialogue within the Constitutional Committee (CC) framework, led and carried out by the Syrians themselves, in line with Security Council resolution 2254, mediated by the United Nations, and free of external interference. The Syrians themselves should choose the venue for the CC’s upcoming sessions, based on where they believe the process will proceed most effectively.
Mr. President,
The degradation of the humanitarian situation in Syria is a long story. Millions of citizens in the country continue to face food shortages. In the past five years, the number of people experiencing nutritional problems has tripled. Health care and decent sanitation remain a challenge. Given rising prices, many Syrians simply cannot afford basic goods and necessities. Millions of children are particularly vulnerable, as they are still deprived of access to education and continue to suffer from malnutrition and lack of health care.
However, the ongoing hostilities are by no means the only reason for the humanitarian hardship experienced by the Syrian civilian population. For 14 years now, the collective West, led by the United States, has been trying to undermine and, ideally, to overthrow an inconvenient regime, as they call it, denying the Syrian people their right to develop and have a decent life. In addition to military interventions, all possible forms of political and economic pressure are being used. They include unrestricted financial sanctions, blocking any actions taken by the Assad government, as well as opposing the return of refugees to their homeland. What should also be included in this ugly list is the fact that the West is plundering Syrian assets, oil and grain. All of these amount to billions of dollars that could support the country’s economy at a decent level.
Western unilateral illegitimate sanctions, imposed in circumvention of the UN Charter, are a noose around the necks of ordinary Syrians. Even though our western colleagues claim the opposite, this conclusion was confirmed “on paper”, inter alia, by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in their recent report on the impact of unilateral sanctions. We can also the report by the HRC Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights Alena Douhan, which was presented following her visit to Syria in 2023 and made unequivocal conclusions on the need to lift unilateral restrictions.
Despite these obvious facts, western delegations today will certainly once again hypocritically argue that these sanctions have been “calibrated and balanced” and are unlikely to have any impact on the population. Having a colonial mindset, the West views the lives of Syrians, as well as other peoples of the Global South, as a collateral damage to serve its geopolitical intrigues. Hence, this is a mere disdain for the conclusions of international experts in this regard.
Unfortunately, the representatives of OCHA are playing along (willingly or unwillingly) with western hypocrites; they do not comment in any way on either the ESCWA report or Alena Douhan’s report. They are acting as if these publications never existed, even though they directly concern the humanitarian mandate. We call on the United Nations to publicly give a direct and honest assessment of the difficulties faced by the Syrians and humanitarian workers due to illegitimate unilateral sanctions. Silence on this issue undermines the very foundations of the work of the UN humanitarian wing and the credibility of the World Organization as a whole.
The problem of ensuring humanitarian access in Syria persists. The Syrian Government, showing concern for its citizens, has once again voluntarily extended its authorization to use the Bab al-Salam, Ar-Rai and Bab al-Hawa border crossings to bring in aid from Turkey. However, the humanitarian situation, especially in territories outside the control of the SAR authorities, remains dire. There are 16 million Syrians in need of assistance, and the UN “reaches” no more than 4.5 million people every month.
At the same time, “cross-line” supplies have not been established yet. Such a situation is unacceptable. It is important to act in close coordination with the official authorities to harness all humanitarian routes, including from Damascus-controlled territories. Access to the northern parts of the country must not be stopped for any reason. But such risks are quite plausible, which is clearly demonstrated by temporary closure of the crossings point on the border with Turkey earlier in July due to the escalation of hostilities.
Against this background, we welcome the efforts undertaken to resume the operation of the Alouk water station; the complete restoration requires stable functioning of a “cross-line” corridor. Russian military personnel are involved in ensuring security for this work to be done. We expect that our efforts will go beyond the UN inspection missions, and Alouk will be able to supply water to nearby settlements and farms in the near future.
Another crucial issue that needs to be resolved is the problem of underfunding of humanitarian efforts. Donors simply fail to uphold their pledges. The humanitarian appeal is funded at a record low of 25%. I would like to ask the UN representatives: Every year you attend the donor conference on Syria in Brussels, but what is the “output” from this “PR gathering”? We see that the pledges are not delivered on and the contributions are de facto not paid? To make it clear, let me remind you that earlier in May, the donors announced that their aggregate contributions in the form of grants will amount to €5 billion, and more than €2.3 billion will be provided in the form of loans. However, as of now, the Office received less than one billion dollars? Now can that be?
We are convinced that the leadership of the United Nations Secretariat needs to carry out additional work with those donors who are bragging about what they are planning to do but have done nothing so far. We also expect the UN to send a clear signal to western donors on the need to lift unilateral unlawful sanctions and to actively support long-term reconstruction and development projects in Syria so that the Syrian people can build their future without any external interference.
Mr. President,
It is important that the Council meets on Syria not just to “tick a box” or to help western delegations keep the Syrian file “afloat” at the UN. What really needs to be the outcome of our work is thorough discussion of specific ways to improve the situation for Syrians, without a hidden agenda, and to really assist them both in political and humanitarian spheres. We call on Council members to keep that in mind and to leave their geopolitical grievances outside this Chamber.
I thank you for your attention.
