The Syrian government has given the United Nations approval to use a border crossing from Turkey to continue delivering aid to opposition-held northwest Syria for another six months after the Security Council failed to renew its authorisation for the operation.<\/p>\n
However, the UN aid deliveries would have to be \u201cin full cooperation and coordination with the Syrian Government\u201d, Syria\u2019s UN Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh wrote in a letter on Thursday to the Security Council, seen by Reuters.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Russia blocked a nine-month extension of a key Syria aid route at the UN Security Council, throwing the vital mechanism that provides\u00a0life-saving support<\/a>\u00a0to millions of people into doubt. Moscow instead suggested a six-month extension.<\/p>\n That, however, was also rejected by the Security Council, with only Russia and China voting in favour, and the United States, the United Kingdom and France voting against.<\/p>\n The UN-brokered agreement that allows for the delivery of aid overland from Turkey into rebel-held areas of Syria expired on Monday.<\/p>\n The Security Council has long been divided over Syria. Most members support cross-border operations, including the US and UK, which have\u00a0called for a full-year extension<\/a>, while Russia has insisted on just six months.<\/p>\n The 15-member Security Council had been negotiating a text to allow the UN operation, which allows for food, water and medicine to be transported to opposition-controlled northwest Syria without the authorisation of the Syrian government, to continue using the Bab al-Hawa crossing for 12 months.<\/p>\n But Russia, which backs the government and has fought in the war in Syria, put forward a rival text proposing six months on Friday.<\/p>\n The cross-border authorisation has for years been renewed for six-month periods, but the short timespan leaves Syrians in opposition areas fearful that they are liable to be cut off from life-saving aid at short notice.<\/p>\n The crossing provides for more than 80 percent of the needs of people living in rebel-controlled areas \u2013 everything from diapers and blankets to chickpeas. The government in Damascus regularly denounces aid deliveries as a violation of its sovereignty.<\/p>\n February\u2019s massive earthquakes that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria exposed the fragility of the\u00a0cross-border mechanism<\/a>\u00a0and increased scrutiny of the\u00a0UN\u2019s humanitarian mission<\/a>\u00a0in Syria.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Russia has been chipping away at the aid mechanism for years.<\/p>\n The accord originally allowed for four entry points into rebel-held Syria, though now only the Bab al-Hawa crossing remains passable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n