On Tuesday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution stipulating the extension of the cross-border assistance mechanism to Syria for a period of six months, until January 10, a period imposed by Russia, while the proposed period was a year. The resolution was adopted by 12 votes out of 15.
The votes are for Russia, China and the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council. The United States, the United Kingdom and France abstained in the vote because they did not agree on how long they deemed insufficient to properly plan for aid delivery.
To be adopted, the text must gather at least nine votes out of fifteen without opposition from one of the five permanent members of the Security Council: the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and China.
The agreement stipulates that the United Nations will resume the use of the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the border between Syria and Turkey. The crossing is no longer available to the United Nations since Sunday evening.
