The Security Council voted unanimously on Friday to extend a cross-border aid operation into Syria from Turkey after Russia agreed to a compromise in last minute talks with the United States that ensures UN aid access to millions of Syrians for 12 months.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council after the vote: “Thanks to this resolution, millions of Syrians can breathe a sigh of relief tonight knowing that vital humanitarian aid will continue to flow into Idlib through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing after tomorrow, and parents can sleep tonight knowing that for the next 12 months their children will be fed.”
“The humanitarian agreement we’ve reached here will literally save lives,” she said.
The council mandate for the long-running aid operation was due to expire on Saturday. After not engaging in weeks of discussion on a resolution drafted by Ireland and Norway, Syrian ally Russia on Thursday proposed a six month renewal.
Following negotiations between Thomas-Greenfield and Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia on Friday morning, the 15-member council unanimously adopted a compromise resolution that asks for a UN report on Syria aid access in six months, but that diplomats said does not require another vote in January to again extend the cross-border operation.
Nebenzia described the vote on the resolution, presented by both the United States and Russia, as a "historical moment" that he hoped could "become a turning point that not only Syria will win from ... but the Middle Eastern region as a whole."
He said he was grateful to the Americans and all council members for reaching agreement “in spite of all the difficulties and problems.”
The Biden administration had warned that any future cooperation with Russia over Syria would be at risk if the cross-border aid deliveries were shut down.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the Security Council to renew the cross-border aid operation for another year, warning that a failure to do so would be devastating for millions of people.
The Security Council approved four border crossings when aid deliveries began in 2014, three years after the start of the Syrian conflict. But in January 2020, Russia used its veto threat in the council first to limit aid deliveries to two border crossings in the northwest, and then last July to cut the crossings to just Bab al-Hawa.
