UN delays vote on 30-day ceasefire for Eastern Ghouta

Dozens more die in Syrian war zone as pressure grows on Russia to stop dragging its feet over agreement

THE UN security council was “almost there” in a deal with Russia on a 30-day ceasefire to end the bombardment of Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, the council president said last night. Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said yesterday that his country was “ready to give our agreement to a text”, signalling that the council was on the verge of making headway after repeated failures to pass resolutions.

Yesterday’s deliberations continued late into the evening, until Kuwait’s ambassador to the UN finally announced that they were unable to agree, and were now hoping for a vote today instead. A frustrated Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN, had earlier tweeted as the negotiations dragged on: “Unbelievable that Russia is stalling a vote on a ceasefire allowing humanitarian access in Syria. How many more people will die before the the Security Council agrees to take up this vote?”

More than 462 people have been killed since the assault on the rebelheld Damascus suburb began last Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least 32 were killed yesterday.

“This is about saving lives,” said Olof Skoog, Sweden’s UN ambassador. “UN convoys and evacuation teams are ready to go. It’s time for the council to come together and shoulder its responsibility to urgently avert a situation that is beyond words in its desperation.”

Russia is one of five permanent members of the security council that can veto a draft resolution. It has done so repeatedly throughout Syria’s civil war, torpedoing numerous efforts to stem the bloodshed even as its air force carries out bombing runs on behalf of Bashar al-assad, Syria’s president and a close ally.

Russia had described civilian testimonies from the embattled area as “mass psychosis” earlier in the week, and blocked a security council vote.

Yesterday, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, wrote a joint letter to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, calling for an immediate truce in Eastern Ghouta. The letter included a condemnation of the attacks on Damascus by opposition fighters inside Eastern Ghouta, but ended with a call for Russia to “assume its full responsibilities”. In a statement yesterday, the European Union called for an immediate ceasefire and access for aid trucks, citing a “moral duty” to protect civilians. “The European Union is running out of words to describe the horror being experienced by the people of Eastern Ghouta,” the bloc said.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, also spoke out.

“Russia and Iran must stop the regime,” he said.

Donald Trump, the US president, said last night that Russia and Iran’s behaviour in Syria was “a disgrace”.