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On February 24, the United Nation (UN) Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution proposing a 30-day humanitarian ceasefire in Syria. The resolution was presented by Kuwait and Sweden in order to de-escalate the violence in Syria, mainly in the East Ghouta pocket.
Beside the 30days ceasefire, the UN resolution will allow the delivery of emergency aid and the evacuation of the wounded in East Ghouta and many other areas all over Syria. However, the resolution exuded the areas controlled by ISIS, al-Qaeda and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the humanitarian ceasefire.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia welcomed the resolution, but noted that it is impossible to be imposed “without agreement from warring parties,” according to the Russian state-run TV network RT. The ambassador also stressed that Russia is worried of the US-led coalition “occupational ambitions” in Syria.
“It would be naïve to think that internal Syrian questions can be solved by a resolution,” Nebenzia said during the UN Security Council session, according to RT.
From her side, Nikky Haley, U.S. ambassador to the UN said that the Washington is “deeply skeptical” that the Damascus government will comply with the UN resolution and accused Russia of delaying the vote on the humanitarian ceasefire.
“The Syrian people should not have to die waiting for Russia to organize instructions from Moscow or discuss it with the Syrians,” said Haley.
Bashar Jaafari, Syria’s ambassador to the UN, welcomed the resolution and confirmed that Damascus government will comply with it. However, Jaafari pointed out that the opposition militants have never respected any ceasefire agreement upon orders from their foreign backers.
On the other side, the main opposition forces in the East Ghouta pocket, Jaysh al-Islam, Faylaq al-Rahman and the Ahrar al-Sham Movement are yet to announce their position from the new UN resolution. These forces broke a similar ceasefire agreement, which was agreed upon during the Vienna talks on January 26.
Observers believe that the UN resolution will eventually fail, as many similar humanitarian ceasefires had failed before, due to the lack of discipline among the ranks of the opposition forces that include many radical elements.
