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Syrian regime to open borders for humanitarian aid

June 18, 2014 at 10:27 am

The Syrian regime has agreed to open four border crossings for the safe delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Syria, the President of the UN Security Council Ambassador Vitaly Churkin announced yesterday.

In remarks to reporters after closed consultations for the Security Council to discuss the Ukrainian issue, Churkin said: “It’s a pretty innovative approach to doing things. So we hope it’s going to work and we hope it’s going to help the humanitarian agencies to work on the ground in Syria, including in areas which are not controlled by the government.”

“It is a far reaching formula which will allow to open those four crossing points in which the humanitarian agencies were interested,” he continued.

Churkin who is also Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, and whose country holds the Council’s rotating presidency for June did not provide additional information on the formula or the draft resolution currently being negotiated between the Council’s members.

It was not possible to obtain an immediate comment from the Syrian regime.

Answering a question on the current situation in Iraq and whether there are initiatives there, Churkin said: “We are monitoring the situation very closely in Iraq, and if the situation needs us to hold a meeting or discussion within the Council, we will hold it immediately.”

Churkin commented on the council’s closed meeting to discuss the Ukrainian issue which lasted for more than two hours, saying the discussions focused on the issuance of a press statement in connection with the murder of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine yesterday as well as the killing of an Italian journalist in eastern Ukraine last month.

He warned of imposing martial law in eastern Ukraine and described it as a “worst-case scenario that Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko could begin his term with”.