UN Security Council Extends Cross-border Aid to Syria for 1 Year

The United States and Russia reached a last-minute compromise Friday to keep humanitarian aid flowing for another year from Turkey to millions of people in northwestern Syria. 

In a unanimous vote, the U.N. Security Council approved a draft resolution extending the cross-border aid operation. In a rare twist, the U.S. and Russia came together to put forward the compromise resolution, supported by Ireland and Norway, which hold the file on Syria's humanitarian situation in the council and have guided months of negotiations.  The resolution reauthorizes the use of the Bab al-Hawa crossing point for another six months. It had been due to expire Saturday. It will then automatically be renewed for six more months – until July 2022. The U.N. secretary-general also is instructed to report to the council on the aid operation in January.  "Thanks to this resolution, millions of Syrians can breathe a sigh of relief tonight, knowing that vital humanitarian aid will continue to flow into Idlib through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing after tomorrow," U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council. "And parents can sleep tonight knowing that for the next 12 months their children will be fed. The humanitarian agreement we've reached here will literally save lives."