UNGA President regrets Russian-Chinese veto in UNSC

The President of the General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser "deeply regrets" that the Security Council has again been unable to unite and take collective action to put an immediate end to the appalling crisis in Syria, his spokeswoman Nihal Saad said late Thursday. She said in a statement that the President remains "deeply concerned" about the horrifying escalation in the continuous, systematic and wide-spread killing of innocent people, and believes that the deadlock in the Security Council, sends the "wrong signals" to all parties in the Syrian conflict. Earlier in the day, Russia and China vetoed a Security Council draft resolution which would have extended the mandate of the UN Mission in Syria for 45 days and threatened Damascus with economic sanctions if it failed to stop the killings in ten days. Al-Nasser "deplores" the continued widespread violations of international humanitarian law by the Syrian authorities, and "condemns all bloodshed and violence in all its forms, and calls for those responsible to be held accountable." He "re-affirms the role of the UN General Assembly in the maintenance of international peace and security in accordance with the UN Charter, to provide the necessary assistance to the people of Syria and find an all-inclusive and peaceful solution to the crisis."