THE UNITED NATIONS, February 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia has presented to the UN Security Council its draft resolution on the humanitarian situation in Syria, Russia’s permanent UN mission told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
“Russia has presented to the Security Council its counter version of a draft resolution on the humanitarian situation in Syria,” the source said.
On Tuesday, a draft resolution on humanitarian aid access in Syria developed by Australia, Jordan and Luxemburg was submitted to the UN Security Council. Actively lobbied by Great Britain, the United States and France the document as an ultimatum demands full humanitarian aid access to the civilian population, threatening with sanctions to those who will not obey the rules.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called this document “detached from reality.” Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said the resolution would not be adopted, as it “will disrupt humanitarian efforts in Syria.”
At the same time UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon called for the UN Security Council’s adoption of a resolution in support of humanitarian aid access, as the last year’s similar statement had not brought radical improvement of the situation in Syria.
On Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters in Geneva that Russia was also set to submit for the UN Security Council’s consideration a draft resolution on the fight against terrorism in Syria. The document would contain a call for pooling efforts to counteract the escalating threat of terrorism in Syria, he said.
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/718968
13/2/14
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Russia presents rival Syria resolution....
ReplyDeleteRussia proposed on Wednesday a rival U.N. resolution on the humanitarian crisis in Syria to key Security Council members after saying Moscow would veto a Western and Arab-backed measure threatening sanctions against Syria, according to Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
Churkin gave the text to the four other veto-wielding permanent members of the council - the United States, Britain, France and China - during a meeting, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity, the Associated Press reported.
The draft presented by Russia includes some parts of the Western and Arab text, Churkin said.
Negotiations were expected to see if the drafts can be merged into a compromise text, the diplomat added.
Western diplomats said their goal was to get agreement from all 15 council members on a resolution demanding immediate and unrestricted access to all areas of Syria to deliver aid.
In the Western and Arab text, most of the blame for the humanitarian crisis is put on the Syrian government.
The text demands that the Syrian authorities allow humanitarian access to people in need across conflict lines and across borders from neighboring countries, particularly Turkey and Iraq.
It also demands that civilians be allowed to leave the war-torn country.
If the resolution's demands are not met within two weeks, the draft expresses the Security Council's intention to impose non-military sanctions.
Russia and China, which back President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, have blocked three previous Western-backed resolutions that would have pressured Assad to end the now three-year-old civil war...........http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/02/13/U-N-Russia-presents-rival-Syria-resolution.html
13/2/14
Russian Resolution Focuses on Fighting Terror in Syria – Minister...
ReplyDeleteMOSCOW, February 13 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s new UN Security Council draft resolution on the crisis in Syria is centered around anti-terrorism efforts, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
“We have introduced to the UN Security Council … a draft document on anti-terrorism efforts in Syria,” said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“This document is based on fundamental principles approved by the UN and other [international] bodies, and reflects the call from G8 leaders to the Syrian opposition and government to unite and eradicate terrorism in Syria,” he said.
Lavrov accused Western countries of focusing “only on the task of creating a transitional government” to the detriment of other important provisions of the June 2013 Geneva Communique on Syria, such as “anti-terrorism, an end to violence and local ceasefires to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.”
The Russian resolution was written as an alternative to a proposal jointly submitted to the UN by Australia, Luxembourg and Jordan last week.
That resolution, supported by the UK, US and France, would have imposed sanctions on Syria if it did not comply with certain demands on supplying humanitarian aid within 15 days.
Russia denounced the text as a non-starter, calling it unacceptable and saying it contained one-sided accusations against the Syrian government..............http://en.ria.ru/world/20140213/187506770/Russian-Resolution-Focuses-on-Fighting-Terror-in-Syria--Minister.html
13/2/14
SYRIA: Security Council Resolution / Ongoing Negotiations.-Marie Harf, Deputy Spokesperson, Daily Press Briefing....
ReplyDeleteQUESTION: Hi. Thanks for doing this. And I saw a report that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Russia does have its own draft Security Council resolution on Syria humanitarian aid access that, per their usual position, doesn’t have sanctions or whatever for noncompliance. But the fact that they have their own draft suggests that they might be willing to support some type of measure. What kind of willingness do you see on the U.S. side to try to get a consensus position, even if it would mean taking off some of the penalties that are in the Western-backed drafts currently being circulated?
MS. HARF: Yeah, no, it’s a good question, and thank you for it. The United States continues to support the original resolution submitted to the full 15 members of the Security Council. So that’s the resolution draft that Australia, Jordan, and Luxembourg submitted to the full 15 members I think it was yesterday, because our position remains the same. The Security Council needs to act urgently to address the humanitarian situation. At this point, I’m sort of not going to get into a line-by-line analysis of the proposed Russian draft or the difference between the two because we’re in the middle of negotiations. We welcome constructive engagement from the Russians and the Chinese and all Security Council members on the resolution currently before the 15 members of the council. But again, the negotiations are ongoing right now about Security Council draft language, and we’ll keep talking to folks to see if we can get some language we can all agree to, because the situation is so serious.
QUESTION: Thanks.......
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2014/02/221643.htm#SYRIA
13/2/14
Syria talks: Mediator apologises for lack of progress...
ReplyDeletehe UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi has apologised to the Syrian people after peace talks in Geneva ended without making progress.
He had held final discussions with both sides in Geneva in a last-ditch bid to break the stalemate between the Syrian government and opposition.
Mr Brahimi said a key sticking point was the government's refusal to talk about a transitional governing body.
No date has been set for a third round of talks.
The conflict in Syria has claimed more than 100,000 lives since March 2011.
Some 9.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes.
Suspicions raised
The discussions on Saturday morning lasted just 27 minutes, after which Mr Brahimi emerged looking tired to address reporters, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.
Mr Brahimi apologised to the Syrian people, admitting that the talks "had not come out with very much".
Although the two sides had agreed on an agenda for the next - third - round, Mr Brahimi said the government had rejected his suggestion to begin it by spending a day focusing on combating violence and terrorism, and a second day discussing a transitional government.
Mr Brahimi said the government's stance "raises the suspicion of the opposition that the government doesn't want to discuss [a transitional government] at all". ..............http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26207315
15/2/14
El Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU ha adoptado una resolución sobre el envío de ayuda humanitaria a las víctimas del conflicto en Siria. Estipula la apertura de las fronteras y las líneas del frente para que puedan acceder a ella quienes la necesiten.....
ReplyDeleteContiene también la exigencia a la oposición siria que deje todos los contactos con las organizaciones terroristas. Insta a todas las partes beligerantes cesar inmediatamente "todos los ataques encaminados contra la población civil" y dejar que la ayuda llegue a las regiones del país más afectadas por el conflicto.
La votación fue unánime. Rusia respaldó el documento, que el representante permanente del país ante la ONU, Vitali Churkin, calificó como "una buena resolución".
El secretario general de la ONU, Ban Ki-moon, celebró el resultado de la votación. "Si esta resolución es cumplida en corto plazo y de buena voluntad, permitirá aliviar las angustias", pronosticó.
Ban recordó que la situación humanitaria en el país árabe sigue empeorando. "La mitad de los ciudadanos sirios urgen asistencia. Es necesario también el apoyo a los países que acogen en sus territorios a más de 2,5 millones de refugiados", dijo el secretario general de la ONU.
Texto completo en: http://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/view/120646-siria-onu-resolucion-ayuda-humanitaria?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=actualidad
22/2/14
UNSC unanimously approves Syria aid access resolution...
ReplyDeleteThe UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution to boost humanitarian aid access in Syria, where the United Nations says 9.3 million people need help, that threatens to take "further steps" in the case of non-compliance.
The UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution Saturday demanding humanitarian access and ending violence against civilians in Syria.
The binding resolution that makes provision for the use of force in the case of non-compliance comes after a deadlock in the council as Syria-allies Russia and China blocked previous humanitarian resolutions.
There had been fears up to the last minute that Russia and China would veto the current text.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the resolution, while at the same time expressing disgust that such a resolution was necessary to gain humanitarian access.
"If this resolution is implemented quickly and in good faith, at least some of the suffering can be eased," Ban said after the vote.
Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN, also welcomed the passing of the resolution, calling the step "long overdue."..................http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_22/UNSC-unanimously-approves-Syria-aid-access-Resolution-8374/
22/2/14
UN Security Council Resolution on Syria. -John Kerry, Press Statement...
ReplyDeleteThis could be a hinge-point in the tortured three years of a Syria crisis bereft of hope. This overdue resolution, if fully implemented, will ensure humanitarian aid reaches people in Syria whose very lives depend on it. This is all about saving innocent lives and relieving the burden on Syria's neighboring countries.
After three years of slaughter and savagery, people rightfully will question whether progress is possible, but this resolution holds the promise of something real. The proof is on paper. By naming the areas in Syria where sieges must be lifted, demanding that hospitals, schools and other places where civilians gather must be demilitarized, insisting that aid must be allowed to cross borders and follow the most direct routes to the suffering, and by underscoring that attacks against civilians, including barrel bombing, must end, the international community hasn't minced words. This is a resolution of concrete steps to answer the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.
But these steps are only first steps. Just as shipments of humanitarian aid mean little without access to beleaguered areas, resolutions demanding access mean little without full implementation. The test is whether the words of the Security Council are matched with the life-saving actions the Syrian people so desperately and urgently need.
http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2014/02/221925.htm
22/2/14