Russia vetoes UN measure renewing aid to northwest Syria
"People will die because of this vote," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said of the Security Council's failure to reauthorize the cross-border mechanism.
Millions of Syrian lives hang in the balance after Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Friday that would have kept humanitarian aid flowing for another year to Syria's impoverished northwest.
The 15-member body must now scramble to reach a compromise on aid delivery before the United Nations' current mandate is set to expire on Sunday.
The vetoed resolution drafted by Ireland and Norway would have authorized a 12-month extension of the cross-border mechanism that allows the UN and its partner agencies to send food, medicine and other basic supplies into northwest Syria through the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border. The text called for a six-month extension of the mandate, followed by an additional six months “unless the Council decides otherwise."
A rival Russian-drafted resolution that would have extended cross-border aid for just six months was rejected on Friday by France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
