The United Nations Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution on humanitarian situation in Syria which calls for boosting the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria.

The United Nations Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution on humanitarian situation in Syria which calls for boosting the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria, denounces the escalating terrorists attacks of Al Qaeda, and calls for an immediate cessation of all forms of violence.

The UN News Centre said that the Security Council called through resolution no. 2139 on all asides, particularly the Syrian authorities, to immediately allow humanitarian aid to reach the humanitarian agencies of the UN and its partners quickly, safely and unhindered, including through "conflict" lines and across borders.

The Council members stressed the need for all sides to cease attacking civilians, which includes random use of weapons in populated areas, denouncing the "wide-scale violations of human rights and international law."

The resolution also urged all sides of the conflict to lift sieges on populated areas, including areas in Aleppo, Damascus, Damascus Countryside and Homs, in addition to emphasizing the importance of medical impartiality and disarming medical facilities, schools and other civilian facilities.

The Council asked the UN Secretary-General to present a report to its members ever 30 days as of Saturday to inform them of progress in implementing the resolution.

The Council also opined that the humanitarian conditions will continue to deteriorate in the absence of a political solution, voicing support for UN-sponsored direct talks between representatives of the government and the opposition.

The UN News Centre said that this resolution is based on the presidential statement issued four months ago which called for taking immediate steps to protect civilians and providing access to people in need.

Al-Jaafari: Humanitarian support to the Syrians is not possible unless it goes hand in hand with stopping terrorism

Syria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari, said the Syrian government has worked since the onset of the crisis to improve humanitarian situation in Syria, placing the humanitarian issue at the top of its priorities and working day and night to meet all citizens' humanitarian needs in parallel with restoring security and stability to the country.

Al-Jaafari asserted that the Syrian government is committed to its international obligations, including its obligations with the UN and its organizations as per the General Assembly resolution no. 46/182 which calls for respecting countries' sovereignty, and in this context and as part of implementing the presidential statement of the Security Council dated October 2nd to13, the government took a series of administrative and logistical steps that enabled the UN and humanitarian organizations to expand their activities, something which couldn't have happened without the government's cooperation as a full partner.

He cited as an example of these procedures the agreement to open a third air bridge to deliver humanitarian aid from Erbil in Iraq to Qamishli in Syria, allowing for 11 flights to deliver aid, while the first and seconded bridges allowed for 13 and 10 flights respectively, adding that the government offered the use of its own aerial fleet for these flights as a sign of good intentions.

Al-Jaafari said that the Syrian government is shouldering the greatest burden in terms of food aid distributed in Syria at around 75% of this aid, while the UN and other organizations provide only around 25%.

He criticized some governments – including members of the Security Council – which responded to the Syrian government's openness and cooperation in humanitarian work by continuing their campaign of misdirection and vulgar lies, noting that their persistence resulted in the gradual uncovering of their ill intentions towards Syria and their pathological and sadistic tendencies for showboating in the field of public relations at the expense of the Syrian people's suffering and hopes.

"Some countries showed their extreme frustration at the emerging of positive indicators, whether in the humanitarian or political field, and this frustration was translated into destruction and terrorism which the Syrian people paid and still pay the price for," he said, asserting that the campaign of escalating statements and slandering meetings launched by the countries which support terrorism by funding and arming were accompanied by blatant and crude encouragement and incitement of the terrorist groups that do their bidding to do all they can to prevent and hinder Syrian citizens from earning their livelihoods and sustenance and drown them in darkness, injustice and suffering.

Al-Jaafari said that the attempts by some sides at the Security Council to sum the complex Syrian scene with the politicized humanitarian aspect only serves to increase the humanitarian suffering and constitutes trading in the suffering in Syrians, in addition to be a biased interpretation that seeks to cover up the dangerous aspects of interference and pressure that manipulate the crisis in Syria and misdirect the world public opinion.

He recalled that some Security Council members objected eight tomes to merely issuing press statements denouncing terrorist acts which claimed the life of thousands of innocent Syrians, while some of those who are all too eager to discuss the humanitarian situation in Syria refused to simply provide ambulances and wheelchairs for people with special needs in Syria.

Al-Jaafari asserted that the Syrian government has always welcomed any honest effort to improve the humanitarian conditions in Syria and cooperated positively with the UN, in addition to welcoming the aforementioned presidential statement and committing to it.

He affirmed that humanitarian support to the Syrians cannot be carried out correctly and effectively unless actions match words on not politicizing humanitarian issues and unless it goes hand in hand with stopping terrorism.

Al-Jaafari underlined the activities carried out by terrorist groups including some affiliated to Al Qaeda, with these groups methodically seeking to destroy the infrastructure and deplete the country's resources, in addition to deliberate attacks on aid convoys and humanitarian workers, several of whom were killed, in addition to attacking and besieging areas and preventing civilians in them from receiving any aid and using said civilians as human shields to prevent the army and security forces from acting against terrorism.

He asserted that the Syrian government is exercising its right and constitutional duty of combating terrorism which is striking Syria indiscriminately, and that this right is based on international law and Security Council resolution, adding that passing and enforcing laws is at the core of the authority of the state, including laws for confronting terrorist activities within its territories, and no-one can deny the state's exclusive duty and right to this.

"In addition to the terrorist activities carried out by armed terrorist groups against the Syrian people, the effects of the unilateral and forced economic procedures imposed by specific countries in an illegitimate manner on the Syrian people have cast a negative shadow on the Syrians' living conditions," al-Jaafari said, adding that another aspect is the lack of humanitarian funding, as the 2014 humanitarian response plan's funding didn't exceed 7% of the required funding despite the showboating carried out in conferences here and there, with funding presented to the regional response plan for Syrian refugees failing to exceed 13%.

On supporting the political solution for the crisis in Syria, al-Jaafari said that the Syrian government announced early on its serious and honest intentions to resolve the crisis through a political process based on dialogue with all political and social, civil, cultural and economic components in the country, including national opposition forces and gunmen who abandon their arms in favor of the language of law and reason which protects the country, providing real judicial, political and security guarantees to those who wish to engage in this process.

He pointed out that this resulted in tangible results on the ground in several areas, with local reconciliations being carried out which sends a strong message to the world that Syrians are capable of resolving the crisis themselves without any foreign manipulation of their interests.

Al-Jaafari asserted that the claims of the French representative during this session, in which he alleged that Syrian security arrested people who turned themselves in as per reconciliations, are completely incorrect.

He said that the Syrian government is working around the clock to ensure that services facilities in areas where reconciliations took place are ready to cater to locals and receive displaced people willing to return to their homes in a safe and secure atmosphere, noting that the suffering of displaced Syrians has become a commodity for cheap political profiteering, pointing out to the poor health, living and security conditions at the camps for displaced Syrians where immoral violations of their dignity take place.

Al-Jaafari pointed out that the Security Council's presidential statement, which Syria committed itself to, constitutes the basis for much of the resolution issued today, and that this statement affirmed clearly that there is international terrorism in Syria carried out by groups affiliated with Al Qaeda, adding that this came after unjustifiable and inexplicable denial of this terrorism's existence.

He stressed that the time has come for the Security Council to seriously and firmly carry out its duties and deal with the roots of the situation which are manifested by terrorist activities carried out by takfiri groups against civilians in Syria under support by governments, individuals and entities which have become well-known to everyone.

Al-Jaafari noted that the Israeli occupation forces are supporting terrorism against Syrians and participating in it openly in full sight of the peacekeeping forces at the disengagement zone in the occupied Syrian Golan.

He reaffirmed that the delivery of humanitarian aid across borders can never violate Syrian sovereignty within the framework of the UN charter, warning against overstepping the General Assembly resolution no. 46/182.

Al-Jaafari said that suggesting that the humanitarian crisis affecting millions of Syrians can be solved by merely allowing humanitarian operations across borders with neighboring countries – countries which are involved in escalating the humanitarian situation in Syria and supporting, arming, training and funding terrorist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, Al Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamist State and others – is mere misdirection and is not unlike a "magic wand" story, asserting that these very same borders are responsible for bringing terrorism into Syria and causing bloodshed in it.

He said that violence has reached an illogical and uncanny point in Syria, but the most important question is: why is this happening, and what is the cause of the unjustifiable silence over all the vulgar forms of foreign interference in Syria's internal affairs?

Al-Jaafari suggested that the reason behind that is that the prevailing mentality among some sides is the "diplomacy of hyenas" and not the diplomacy of international humane law.

In response to what was said in one of the speeches delivered during the session, in which claims were made that the Syrian official delegation refused the agenda proposed by UN Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, al-Jaafari said "I officially refute this, as I was in the room and agreed after one minute of Lakhdar Brahimi proposing the agenda. The other side was the one who rejected, and you can ask Brahimi when he meets you soon about the details of this story.

Churkin: Gunmen still hinder delivery of humanitarian aid

In turn, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin said in a speech following the vote that there are attempts to exploit the humanitarian situation in Syria, calling on all parties to cooperate with the international organizations and the Syrian government.

"Russia has backed the resolution when it was agreed upon and became balanced," he said, adding that the goal of the resolution is to improve the situation in Syria and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need.

Churkin said that difficulty still remains when it comes delivering aid to the areas controlled by the gunmen who are firing at aid convoys, using civilians as human shields, and committing terrorist attacks, adding that there are similar activities by the opposition's which aim to torpedo relief efforts, and that "messages will be delivered to those who sabotage the process of delivering humanitarian aid."

He said that the resolution is based on presenting aid using a non-politicized, joint and consensual process, and this also applies to delivering aid in areas of conflict and across orders, asserting that international organizations will commit to the resolution's rules and regulations, as should all sides involved, including the government and armed groups.

Churkin asserted that improving humanitarian situation in Syria requires ending the crisis which can only be done via peaceful settlements and negotiations that are sustainable, stressing that this is vital in keeping the Syrian state functional.

He said that the resolution included an article on counterterrorism, but sad this article was hindered and opposed, stressing that the opposition must shoulder its responsibility and work for eradicating terrorism in cooperation with the Syrian government, calling on the Council to discuss another resolution for combating terrorism in Syria.

Liu Jieyi: International community must let the Syrian people decide upon their future

For his part, China's Permanent Representative to the UN Liu Jieyi called on the Security Council to be objective and work for preserving peace and security and assert Syria's unity and sovereignty, calling on the international community to let the Syrian people decide upon their future on their own and to commit to the political solution, efforts for national reconciliation, and providing humanitarian aid.

Liu Jieyi said that his country appreciates the efforts made by the international community and the UN to help with the humanitarian situation in Syria, noting that China provided aid on several occasions to Syria and will continue to do so.

He stressed the need for the Security Council to be objective and balanced and to lead to political settlement of the crisis in Syria, noting that the resolution issued today consecrates respecting Syria's sovereignty, independence and unity and sends a strong unified message to all sides to work towards improving humanitarian conditions in Syria.

Liu Jieyi called on all sides in Syria to put the people above all other considerations and implement the resolution, urging the international community to continue providing aid, noting that aid alone is a temporary solution, and a full solution requires achieving a political solution for the crisis, adding that Geneva 2 conference was an important step in this direction.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that implementing the agreement "swiftly and in good faith" will ease the suffering of the Syrian people, urging all parties to comply with the international humanitarian law.

Ban hailed the humanitarian efforts of the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, pointing out that "the UN agencies have managed to reach big numbers, but many remain hard to reach."

Similarly, Argentina's Representative María Cristina Perceval said that there are severe violations of international humanitarian law taking place in Syria, with deliberate attacks on individuals, properties, medical crews, humanitarian workers, schools, hospitals, sick people, and indiscriminate attacks that don't differentiate between civilians and combatants, in additions to massacres such as the one that took place in Ma'an on February 9th.

Perceval also underlined positive developments such as local ceasefires, accessing Yarmouk Camp, the success of the polio vaccination campaign, issuing visas for humanitarian workers, and distributing aid in Aleppo and Qamishli, adding that this is not enough.

She added that today's resolution cannot be exploited under any context as an excuse for unilateral use of force or a military solution for the crisis, calling on all sides to abolish violence and respect human rights and international law.

Meanwhile, US Representative Samantha Power continued to defend terrorists and attempt to justify their crimes, and as usual, she held the Syrian government responsible for the deterioration of humanitarian situation, shedding crocodile tears over the suffering of the Syrians caused by her country's support and arming of terrorists.

Unsurprisingly, French Representative Gérard Araud followed Power's footsteps, singling out the Syrian government and remaining to feign obliviousness of the terrorists' attacks on aid convoys and hindering or relief efforts.

Araud persisted in attempting his tirade of misdirection by alleging that the Syrian government's relief efforts as "limited" and spouting outright lies about arresting "many of the people evacuated from Homs old city" in a clear attempt to derail the successful reconciliation process and the delivery of aid.

Russian Foreign Ministry: Moscow voted for resolution after taking Russian amendments into consideration

On a relevant note, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Alexander Lukashevich said that his country voted in favor of the resolution after the Council took the Russian amendments to it into consideration, noting that this resolution involves no threats of sanctions.

He said in a statement that the resolution mainly aims to improve humanitarian conditions in Syria while respecting the country's sovereignty and its government, adding that the resolution is based on the Syrians' right to self-determination.

Lukashevich said that improving the humanitarian situation can be done via a comprehensive political settlement based on inter-Syrian dialogue on the basis of the first Geneva communiqué, calling on all countries to help achieve this settlement without employing double standards.