Russia has long maintained that it is supporting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in a war against the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists, both designated as terror organizations by the United Nations.
US Ambassador Samantha Power shot back.
“Let us be real: terrorists are not the ones dropping bunker-busting bombs on hospitals and civilian homes in eastern Aleppo, nor are they besieging civilians there,” she said.
“The Assad regime and Russia are.”
Canada’s Foreign Minister Stephane Dion called for a formal emergency session of the General Assembly to discuss urgent measures that could be taken by the 193 UN member-states.
“We need to act and to act now,” he said.
It remained unclear what concrete action the assembly — whose resolutions are non-binding — could take to address the humanitarian crisis in Syria.
The gathering was seen by some diplomats as an attempt to turn up the pressure on Russia and Syria to halt the bombing of Aleppo.
Russia this week declared a humanitarian pause in the assault on eastern Aleppo, where more than 250,000 civilians have been trapped, under near-continuous siege since July.
Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy :South China Morning Post
