UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Issues related to humanitarian assistance to Syrian people should not be tied to the political process, and much more could be done without politicizing this issue, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said Wednesday.
"Humanitarian assistance should not be linked to political conditions. In order to remove unilateral sanctions from Syria, it seems to us that much more could be done if there is no such politicization of conditions for assistance, including those coming from the EU," Vershinin told reporters.
A Russian representative attended the EU-organized meeting on Syria on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, he added.
"This meeting is still ongoing, we took part in it. This meeting, as you know, is a continuation of EU efforts that they are making, as they say, to help and support the Syrians. We support such efforts and assistance, especially at the present stage, when the time has come for the reconstruction of Syria," Vershinin said.
Since 2011, the European Union has been imposing restrictive measures against the Syrian government officials and entities over "the violent repression of the civilian population in Syria." The latest extension of the sanctions took place in May. The restrictions, which are currently in place until June next year, include an oil embargo, investment restrictions, assets freezes, a ban on selling "equipment and technology that might be used for internal repression" to Syria.
In May, UN rapporteur on human rights Idriss Jazairy expressed concern that the Syrian people were denied their humanitarian needs due to sanctions against the Arab Republic. In July, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow had called on the international community to lift economic and financial sanctions against Syria.
The Syrian civil war has been raging for some seven years with the government forces fighting against numerous terrorist groups and opposition factions.
