Russia calls for UN meeting on Syria's Eastern Ghouta

By Betul Yuruk

NEW YORK

Moscow's Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia on Wednesday called for a UN Security Council meeting on Syria's besieged Eastern Ghouta.

Nebenzia asked the UN body to hold the meeting on Thursday.

"We ask the the presidency to convene tomorrow an open meeting of the Security Council to discuss the situation in Eastern Ghouta.

"I think it is necessary given the concerns that we heard today in order to make sure that all parties present their understanding of this situation and come up the ways of getting of of this situation," he said.

Home to some 400,000 civilian residents, Eastern Ghouta has remained under a crippling regime siege for the last five years.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since March 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

While UN officials say hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, Syrian regime officials say the death toll is closer to 10,000.