UN limits aid to Syrian rebels to 6 months in a Russian win

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Tuesday extending humanitarian aid deliveries to 4.1 million people in Syria’s rebel-held northwest for just 6 months in a victory for Russia.

The vote was 12-0, with the United States, Britain and France, which backed a resolution for a year-long extension that was vetoed on Friday by Russia, abstaining.

Ireland and Norway, which had sponsored the vetoed resolution, circulated a new draft Monday that provides for a six-month extension of deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing until Jan. 10, 2023. As Russia demanded, a further six-month extension after that would require a new Security Council resolution.

Ireland’s U.N. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason said before the vote that after difficult negotiations the two countries “redoubled efforts to meet the dire needs in Syria.”