S/2020/694 Security Council

In accordance with the procedure agreed upon by the Members of the Security Council in light of the extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as set out in the letter dated 27 March 2020 from the President of the Security Council addressed to all members of the Council (S/2020/253), I would like to draw your attention to the following matter. The members of the Council have discussed a draft resolution, submitted by the Russian Federation, in connection with the agenda item “The situation in the Middle East”. That draft resolution, contained in document S/2020/683 and enclosed herewith, has been put in blue. In my capacity as President of the Security Council, I hereby put the above- mentioned draft resolution to a vote. The non-extendable two-hour voting period for this draft resolution will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, 10 July 2020, and expire at 6 p.m. on Friday, 10 July 2020. Please submit your vote (in favour, against or abstaining) on the draft resolution, as well as your possible explanation of vote, by sending a letter signed by the Permanent Representative or Chargé d’affaires a.i. within the non-extendable two-hour voting period to the Director of the Security Council Affairs Division in the United Nations Secretariat (egian@un.org). It is my intention to circulate a letter listing the outcome of the vote within three hours of the conclusion of the two-hour voting period. I also intend to convene a video-teleconference of the Security Council to announce the outcome of the voting shortly after the conclusion of the voting period, at 6.30 p.m. on Friday, 10 July 2020.

The United Kingdom expresses its continued thanks to the German and Belgian delegations for their determined and principled efforts to ensure that the United Nations and humanitarian partners are able to meet the needs of millions of people in Syria. The United Kingdom voted against the Russian draft resolution (S/2020/683) that would close the Bab Al-Salam border crossing into north-western Syria, depriving 1.3 million people of the cross-border aid they rely on. We regret that Russia also insisted on including language on sanctions. Members of the Council have repeatedly made clear that sanctions do not apply to food or medicine. There are also exemptions for humanitarian activity in place for United Kingdom-European Union sanctions. The actions of the Syrian regime are the main driver of the dire humanitarian situation in Syria. We remain deeply disappointed by Russian and Chinese politicization of this humanitarian issue. The outcome of this vote makes clear that a majority of Council members share our concerns. Russia and China have now twice vetoed texts that would have met the humanitarian needs of those in north-western Syria and which had the support of all other Security Council members. We urge Russia and China to reconsider their approach and support a compromise solution, coming together with the rest of the Council in the name of humanity.

After a month of negotiations, we have reached the expiration of the mandate that provides cross-border humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people. And on this solemn day, right on cue, Russia presented a draft resolution (S/2020/683( that makes a mockery of the Council’s responsibilities, defies explicit requests from the United Nations and humanitarian groups on the ground, and turns a blind eye to millions of Syrians in dire need. The text that Russia presented today was entirely predictable; it follows their now-established pattern to obstruct, lie, deny and distract. The Russian draft does not come close to meeting the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people. It is riddled with false and misleading language related to sanctions targeted at the Al-Assad regime, clearly designed to obfuscate blame for the humanitarian catastrophe caused by Al-Assad in Syria. Moreover, it attempts to propagate the well-established lie that cross-line assistance is improving despite multiple reports from the Secretary- General stating the opposite, and it removes any mention of the Security Council- supported political process. None of this gets us any closer to helping Syrians in need. The Russian Federation’s games are getting old, but there is still a chance to correct this grave mistake. We look forward to continue supporting the penholders in their efforts to preserve humanitarian access for the Syrian people.