Russia calls on its Western partners to abandon setting conditions for the provision of humanitarian assistance to Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told Sputnik in an interview.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2018) Russia calls on its Western partners to abandon setting conditions for the provision of humanitarian assistance to Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told Sputnik in an interview.
"You know our position it is impossible to put political conditions on the way of urgent humanitarian aid. It cannot be tied to any conditions that are not related to such tasks as humanitarian mine clearance and simply providing people with food and medicines. We believe that such assistance must be provided to all Syrians without exception. And we call on our Western and regional partners for this," Vershinin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday urged the international community to ensure that the process of humanitarian aid provision to Syrian civilians is not affected by politics. It is unacceptable to divide the Syrian population on the basis of territory of residence, according to Putin.
In late August, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said that the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) adopted a "passive position" on providing assistance to Syrians due to an internal UN directive, adopted in October 2017, which "impedes the involvement of United Nations agencies in efforts to rebuild Syria until political changes are in effect in that country."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also mentioned this directive in mid-August and said that the UN Secretariat secretly banned the organization's agencies from taking part in restoring Syria's economy.
