The situation in Syria remains difficult and tense. Russia is very much concerned about the continued violence and problems with humanitarian access to the Syrians in need.
Every day, civilians in Aleppo die as a result of the so-called ‘blind’ shelling of western Aleppo controlled by the Syrian government forces. Terrorists and militants from various illegal armed groups have occupied eastern Aleppo, with at least half of them belonging to Jabhat al-Nusra (also known now as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham), an organisation clearly labelled by the UN Security Council as being terrorist.
They are basically holding the locals hostage, using them as live shields while blocking their escape through the humanitarian corridors created by the Syrian Armed Forces and Russia’s Reconciliation Centre located at the Hmeymim airbase. One of the favourite tactics of illegal armed groups is using civilian facilities, schools, hospitals and residential buildings as their headquarters and defence centres, as well as opening sniper fire from these locations on the Syrian military personnel and civilians.
It is well known that Russia was not involved in the Syrian conflict for four years as Western governments fostered armed extremist groups. We joined the military operations in Syria at the request of its legitimate government only after a serious threat of the seizure of Damascus by terrorists emerged. It would have been unacceptable to allow Syria to fall into the fate of Iraq or Libya, which were invaded, which in turn led to the destabilisation in the Middle East, thus giving rise to Isis and new incarnations of Al-Qaeda, such as al-Nusra.
Russia wants the fight against terrorism to be waged collectively and based on international law.
The co-authors of the French-proposed draft failed to show political wisdom. Instead of talks aimed at a positive, practical result, they chose an ultimatum
Over a year ago, President Vladimir Putin suggested creating a broad anti-terrorist front in his speech at the 70th UN General Assembly. We invited all countries, including the US, to cooperate on this, but our proposal was rejected.
As is known, on September 9, after long negotiations, Russia and the US coordinated a package of documents on Syria. Russia has done everything in its power to start implementing these arrangements. However, the US was unable to honour our agreements, not only regarding the separation of the moderate opposition from Jabhat al-Nusra, but also the clear and concrete obligation to unblock Castello Road, the main channel for solving Aleppo’s humanitarian problems. As a result, the US derailed these agreements, which is regrettable and deplorable.
As for the hysterical pointing of fingers at Russia for allegedly bombing civilian targets, it must be said that no meaningful proof (satellite data, geolocation or any other materials) to support these claims has been put forward so far. This also applies to the attack on the humanitarian convoy on September 19, which we have good reasons to believe was a provocation.
And it is especially strange to hear ungrounded accusations from representatives of those states which took on the task of “protecting civilians” by bombing Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen and ended up killing thousands of them and turning their countries into a mess.
Once again, I am compelled to point out that the Russian military takes all necessary and very strict precautions not to hit civilians.
On October 8, Russia voted against the UN Security Council draft resolution on Syria proposed by France. The text of the document flagrantly misrepresented the actual state of affairs and had a politically charged and unbalanced character. The resolution indiscriminately laid the blame for the escalation of tensions in the Syrian Arab Republic solely on the country’s authorities and plainly attempted, through a ban on military flights over the city of Aleppo (we all remember what happened in Libya when a similar resolution was adopted), to afford protection to Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists and the militants that have merged with it, despite the UN member states’ obligation to fight the terrorist threat with all available means.
The resolution completely obscured the fact that the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo was provoked deliberately, when in August and September, the militants refused to provide access to humanitarian convoys, threatening to open fire on them.
Russia proposed a compromise resolution, which among other things welcomed UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura’s plan to withdraw al-Nusra fighters from Aleppo under his personal guarantees.
However, the co-authors of the French-proposed draft failed to show political wisdom. Instead of talks aimed at a positive, practical result, they chose an ultimatum, a clamorous grandstanding move that exploited the humanitarian issues aimed at momentary political goals that are far from the interests of the Syrian and other people in the region.
In conclusion, it must be stressed that despite the difficult situation in Syria, Russia is ready to seek a peaceful settlement of the conflict and to cooperate with all those who are ready to achieve peace. We see our main tasks in Syria, as the UN Security Council has identified, as eradicating the terrorist threat, improving the humanitarian situation and launching a political process as soon as possible.
Vladimir Malygin is the Russian Ambassador to Malta.