Russia and the West are in a showdown over continuing the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria's mainly rebel-held northwest after the current UN mandate expires on Friday.
Germany and Belgium on Thursday called for a vote on a draft resolution that would maintain the two border crossings from Turkey to the northwest for six months -- a position supported by the UN secretary-general, UN humanitarian chief, and many aid organizations. The result is scheduled to be announced early Friday afternoon.
Russia, Syria's closest ally, has argued that aid should be delivered from within Syria across conflict lines. But the UN and humanitarian groups say aid for 2.8 million needy people in the northwest can't get in that way. Germany's UN ambassador, Christoph Heusgen, said Wednesday that while the Bab Al-Hawa crossing is used to deliver aid to Idlib province, the Bab al-Salam crossing reaches the region north of Aleppo, where an additional 300,000 Syrians displaced by the last offensive are now sheltering.Russia's Polyansky tweeted Thursday evening that Bab Al-Hawa "accounts for more than 85 per cent of total volume of operations.
"If they block our compromise proposal they will be responsible for the consequences," the Russian envoy warned.
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