UN General Assembly to discuss Syria resolution on Friday - official
NEW YORK (UN). Dec 9 (Interfax) - The UN General Assembly will discuss a resolution on Syria at a plenary meeting on Friday, Daniel Thomas, spokesman for the president of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, said.
The resolution drafted by Canada, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Japan demands that all parties to the Syria conflict immediately cease fire, ensure humanitarian access to every district of Syria, lift the Aleppo siege, and identify and prosecute culprits behind war crimes.
The resolution underlined the importance of the political process of normalization in Syria and the resumption of intra-Syrian negotiations.
The document puts the responsibility for the activity of terrorist groups in Syria on the Syrian regime, which was suppressing public protests.
Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin told the press he was not expecting the UN General Assembly's meeting to produce any decisions that could have a positive effect on the Syria situation.
"This is unrealistic," he said, adding that Russia would partake in the forthcoming debates.
"We believe that the draft resolution does not give enough attention to the fight against terrorists in Syria. Certain provisions of Security Council resolutions, for instance the need to separate the so-called moderate opposition from terrorists and the fact that terrorists do not qualify for the cessation of hostilities regime, those provisions are not there," Churkin said before closed-door consultations of the Security Council on Thursday.
The Syria discussion should continue within the Security Council's framework, he said. "We should stay focused on the continuation of this work at the Security Council," the Russian diplomat said.
