Russia to veto French U.N. resolution for 'neutral monitoring' of Aleppo evacuation

Russia will veto a French-drafted United Nations resolution for neutral monitoring of the evacuation process in Aleppo, Syria, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Sunday, "because this is a disaster."

Churkin framed his country's objection to the measure as a criticism of allowing monitors "to go to wander around the ruins of eastern Aleppo without proper preparation and without informing everybody about what is going to happen," and he argued "there could be another thing which could be adopted today by the Security Council which would accomplish the same goals" without specifying what that second option might be.

As a Security Council member, Russia can single-handedly kill the resolution. In Aleppo itself, the evacuation process — renegotiated on Saturday — stalled Sunday when six evacuation buses were burned.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up