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China urges end to Syria conflict as Russia, US feud
September 26, 2016, 1:14 pm

Liu Jieyi (C), China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, speaks during a Security Council urgent session on the situation in Syria, at the UN headquarters in New York [Xinhua]

Liu Jieyi (C), China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, speaks during a Security Council urgent session on the situation in Syria, at the UN headquarters in New York [Xinhua]


Liu Jieyi, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the Security Council late Sunday that the dire situation in Syria cannot be allowed to continue even as diplomats bickered over blame for the collapse of a ceasefire.

“China stands ready to play a constructive role in promoting a full, just and appropriate settlement of the Syrian problem,” he added.

Fighting has intensified in the five-year civil war, with particularly heavy casualties reported in and around the besieged city of Aleppo in Syria’s east.

A cessation of hostilities collapsed late last week as Russia and the US blamed one another for not doing enough to rein in government forces and rebel factions, respectively.

Hospital sources in Aleppo say that at least 85 people have been killed and another 300 wounded since the ceasefire unraveled.

China believes the best chance to end the conflict is to effectively implement a ceasefire deal reached between Russia and the US earlier in September.

“The priority now is that all the parties in Syria must effectively implement the Security Council resolutions concerning the issue of Syria,” Liu said.

“The international community should work simultaneously on the tracks of ceasefire, political negotiation, humanitarian assistance and counter-terrorism cooperation in order to promote the solution of the Syrian question.”

In the meantime, the diplomatic posturing continues. The US, UK and French delegations walked out of the emergency Security Council session in protest at what they said was Russian support of the Syrian government.

US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power described that support as barbaric.

Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rebuked the US and UK for using inappropriate language that was not conducive to ending the conflict.

“We note that the tone and rhetoric used by official representatives from the UK and US is generally unacceptable and it can seriously damage the settlement process and our bilateral relations, but in the interests of the higher ideas of settlement we are minded to detach ourselves from unnecessary emotion,” he said.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies