Russia cynically exploiting humanitarian crisis in Syria to achieve own foreign policy goals - MFA Germany

This is how the German Foreign Ministry assessed Russia's veto in the UN Security Council on extending the Bab al-Hawa humanitarian corridor in Syria, Ukrinform reports.

"Russia's veto on Friday showed us that we cannot expect Russia to abandon its cynical game of exploiting humanitarian aid to civilians as bargaining chips," Foreign Ministry spokesman Christopher Burger said Monday.

According to the official, an agreement is urgently needed so that the humanitarian aid provided to Syria through the UN can continue to flow into the country. Despite Russia's veto, negotiations in New York continue, the diplomat said.

The very lives of about 2.5 million Syrians depend on the delivery of humanitarian goods through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. This is the last cross-border corridor for humanitarian aid from Turkey to Syria. Last year, Germany provided more than EUR 700 million in humanitarian aid to Syria, and at this year's Syria donor conference in Brussels, the German government made the largest one-time commitment of EUR 1.05 billion.

As reported, last Friday, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to extend for 12 months the corridor of aid supplies from Turkey, which the UN provides to approximately 4 million residents of northwestern Syria, controlled by the opposition.

13 members of the Security Council supported the resolution sponsored by Ireland and Norway, while China abstained.