Russia Puts Alternative Draft Resolution on Syria Up for Vote at UNSC

Local Editor

The Russian mission to the United Nations said that Russia has presented an alternative draft resolution on Syria at the UN Security Council.

Russia had presented an alternative draft resolution on Syria at the UN Security Council, the Russian mission to the United Nations told journalists.

"After the voting on the French draft resolution, an alternative Russian document will be considered," the mission said.

The UN Security Council will vote at 3 p.m. EDT [19:00 GMT] on Saturday on a draft resolution from France that seeks to establish a ceasefire in the Syrian city of Aleppo, Russia's mission to the United Nations had confirmed.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Friday that the French draft contains a number of unacceptable provisions.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced last month that Paris would present a resolution to the Security Council aimed at ending the violence in Syria's northern city of Aleppo.

On Friday, Ayrault travelled to Washington having visited Moscow, in a bid to persuade both sides to adopt the resolution and impose a new ceasefire in Aleppo.

Syria had been mired in war since 2011, with Syrian Army forces repelling a number of so-called "moderate" opposition factions and Takfiri extremist groups, such as Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham [formerly known as al-Nusra Front, or Jabhat al-Nusra], both of which are banned in a wide range of countries.

Russia had been supporting Syria's legitimate authorities, the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Washington had sided with the so-called "moderate" opposition in Syria.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team