The UN Security Council is expected to vote, probably on Thursday, on a draft resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire in Syria to allow deliveries of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations, diplomats said.
Sweden and Kuwait, which drafted the measure, requested the vote “as soon as possible,” the Swedish mission said Wednesday, adding that it will likely be scheduled for Thursday.
The push for a vote came after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a halt of the “war activities” in Eastern Ghouta, the last major terrorist enclave near the Syrian capital.
Russia called for an urgent council meeting on Thursday to discuss the crisis in Eastern Ghouta which Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia described as a “complex situation.”
“There are terrorists there who the Syrian army is fighting and the terrorists are shelling Damascus,” Nebenzia said.
“It’s a complex situation and not just a one-way street,” he said, according to remarks released by the Russian mission.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley hit back at Russian envoy’s remarks it was “simply preposterous to claim that these attacks on civilians have anything to do with fighting terrorism.”
“It’s time to take immediate action in the hopes of saving the lives of the men, women, and children who are under attack by the barbaric Assad regime,” she said in a statement.
Syrian Army and allies have been for days launching am operation in Eastern Ghouta, the last major terrorist enclave near Damascus, in a bid to completely put an end to terrorists’ shelling of the capital.
Source: AFP
