Kerry calls for immediate aid access in Syria
US Secretary of State says he has been in contact with Russian counterpart on humanitarian aid
People who have malnutrition problems receive treatment at an hospital in the Madaya town of Damascus, Syria on January 17, 2016. Hundreds of civilians in the Madaya town, which is under blockade of both Assad regime forces and Hezbollah, face food safety and malnutrition problems because of the ongoing clashes in the country. (Stringer-AA)
LONDON
Humanitarian access to besieged communities in Syria cannot wait for the outcome of peace talks, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said.
Speaking in London, Kerry said a UN Security Council resolution “could not be more clear” that both regime and opposition forces needed to grant humanitarian access immediately.
“That is an obligation that is not tied to talks. It is an obligation accepted by all parties in the United Nations resolution. Russia voted for that; Russia has a responsibility, as do all parties, to live up to it,” he said on Thursday morning.
Kerry said he had a “robust discussion” with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss ways of allowing access for aid convoys and humanitarian assistance.
He said they had agreed on further talks on implementing last December’s resolution, which calls on all sides in the Syrian conflict to provide “rapid, safe and unfettered access throughout Syria” to humanitarian agencies.
Kerry was speaking after talks with U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on the fringes of Thursday’s Syria Donors Conference in London.
U.N.-sponsored talks in Geneva aimed at ending the Syrian civil war were suspended on Wednesday due to intensified fighting in the country.
