The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has extended humanitarian aid deliveries from Turkey to Syria for another year after a last minute deal between Washington and Moscow, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported on Saturday. The bloc’s mandate enabling the deliveries, which was set to expire on Saturday, was extended by an unspecified last-minute change of heart by permanent UNSC member Russia, it said. Four border crossings into Syria were authorised for the passage of humanitarian aid in 2014, but the U.N. Security Council annulled authorisation for all but one in 2020, due to Russia and China vetoing the renewal. Last month, Washington stressed that continued cross-border humanitarian aid into Syria is an urgent matter while U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock appealed to the Security Council in favour of continued aid to the region. Ahead of Friday’s unanimous UNSC vote, DW said, staunch Syrian regime backer Russia had said the last border crossing at Bab al-Hawa in northwestern Syria should be closed. A number of factors may have led to Moscow’s compromise, including a shift in relations set in motion by the new U.S. administration and Russia’s improving political and economic ties with Turkey, DW said. Turkey-Russia cooperation has grown in recent years with Ankara’s controversial decision to purchase the Russian-made S-400 missile system against the strong objections of its NATO allies as the most evident example of rapprochement.
Source:https://ahvalnews.com/humanitarian-aid/un-extends-aid-delivery-mandate-turkey-syria