Russia says will not back French-proposed resolution on Aleppo
Russia says it does not support a UN Security Council resolution drafted by France that calls for the deployment of international observers to Syria's Aleppo to monitor the evacuation of civilians and protect those who remain.
"We cannot support it, we cannot allow it to pass because this is a disaster," Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told reporters on Sunday.
He said Moscow would submit its own proposal for the monitoring process, though he did not elaborate.
"But there could be another thing which could be adopted today by the Security Council which would accomplish the same goals," Churkin added.
Diplomats said Russia had circulated a draft resolution to address the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo during a closed-door meeting on Sunday ahead of a planned vote on the French-proposed draft.
The Russian proposal reportedly urges the UN to make "arrangements" to "monitor the condition of civilians remaining in Aleppo." The deployment of observers to Aleppo was not mentioned in the draft resolution.
The UN Security Council is set to vote on the resolutions later on Sunday.
Earlier, buses entered the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo to resume the evacuation of civilians and armed men from the areas that had been under the control of militants. The evacuation process was halted due to the militants' violation of a ceasefire deal.
The Syrian government managed to liberate the city recently after weeks of advances and blistering attacks against foreign-backed militants, who had been holding the eastern part of Aleppo since 2012.
On Friday, Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Ja’afari slammed the West’s recent initiatives at the United Nations over the situation in Syria as the "saddest images of diplomatic and political hypocrisy."
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