The humanitarian situation in Syria is already catastrophic. The Corona pandemic will continue exacerbating this situation for the foreseeable future. In northwestern Syria, around 2.8 million people are dependent on life-saving food aid from the United Nations. The cross-border provision of aid is the only opportunity for them to receive humanitarian aid since the Syrian government continues to massively impede aid deliveries from Damascus. We are therefore working with all our partners, after several rounds of intense negotiations, to extend the legal basis for the cross-border aid.

Yesterday, we and our co-penholder Belgium submitted a draft to extend the cross-border resolution which would preserve both crossings in current use and the aid passing through them for another year. We deeply regret that this draft, which draws on assessments from OCHA and other aid organizations, was not supported by all partners in the Security Council.

Adoption of the resolution was prevented by two vetoes to the draft which all other Security Council members supported. The vetoes are even more incomprehensible in light of the fact that the text presented was already a compromise.

Our top goal is to preserve the life-saving aid for people in Syria as best as possible. Over the next few days, we will continue working with all our power to find a way to extend the resolution and seek space for compromise.