The United Nations reiterated calls for “a full and immediate implementation” of the Security Council resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire as it said it was not party to negotiations regarding Russia’s announcement of a daily five-hour truce in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta.
UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Thursday reiterated Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for “a full and immediate implementation” of UN Security Council resolution 2401 demanding a 30-day ceasefire and the lifting of the sieges.
“We were not involved or party to those negotiations. I think the clear message for us is a full implementation of resolution 2401, asking for a 30-day cessation of hostilities,” Dujarric told a press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York.
Dujarric pointed out that the five-hour truce was never enough to carry out the humanitarian tasks for some 400,000 people trapped inside eastern Ghouta.
The Syrian Coalition’s legal committee on Thursday sent a memorandum to the UN Secretary-General and the UN Security Council to protest against Russia’s refusal to implement UN Security Council resolution 2401.
The committee stressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a daily five-hour humanitarian truce represents tacit admission that Russia is leading the onslaught on eastern Ghouta. It also said that the announcement represents a violation of the UN Security Council resolution 2401, adding that Russia has hijacked the UN Security Council which has become unable to maintain international peace and security.
Activists in eastern Ghouta said that the at least 50 civilians were killed and injured in the past 24 hours as a result of the constant bombardment by the Assad regime and Russian forces of residential areas. They stressed that the bombings are still as intense as they were before the UN Security Council’s adoption of resolution 2401.
Residents of eastern Ghouta refused to leave via the corridors set up by Russia, while Rural Damascus Provincial Council said that the Russian proposal is aimed at circumventing UN resolution 2401. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
