Members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council failed to break the persistent deadlock on how to resolve the six-year crisis in Syria during an emergency meeting on Friday, following a US missile attack on a Syrian air base earlier that day in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town on Tuesday.
China urges dialogue
The solution to the conflict in Syria is not military action but more dialogue, China's permanent representative to the UN told the meeting.
Liu Jieyi (C), China's permanent representative to the UN, speaks at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the Syria crisis at UN headquarters in New York, the US on April 7, 2017. /Xinhua Photo
Liu Jieyi said that China always stands for dialogue in resolving international conflicts and all parties must ensure that the situation does not further deteriorate. “Military means will not work,” he said.
Syrian residents of Khan Sheikhun hold placards and pictures during a protest on April 7, 2017, condemning a suspected chemical weapons attack on their town that killed at least 86 people, among them 30 children. /CFP Photo
US blames Russia
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said her country was "fully justified" in targeting the Syrian air base because it was in the national interests of the US to prevent the spread and use of chemicals weapons.
She said it was "beyond any doubt" that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons multiple times against civilians, including the Tuesday attack in Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib Province.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley delivers remarks at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the Syria crisis at UN headquarters in New York, the US on April 7, 2017. /CFP Photo
Haley accused the Syrian government of murdering hundreds of thousands of people, breaking international law and committing “criminal acts that shock the conscience of all humanity.”
She said Russia also bore responsibility and had made it known that it would use its veto to cover up for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“The world is waiting for Russia to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad,” according to Haley.
People participate in a protest against a recent American missile strike in Syria in Union Square in New York, the US on April 7, 2017. /CFP Photo
British representative Matthew Rycroft echoed his American counterpart, slamming Assad for "redefining horror." He described the air strike by the US as a strong effort to save lives by ensuring that such actions would never recur.
The French ambassador took a similar tone, calling Assad's government "the strongest generator of terrorism."
Russia threatens ‘extremely serious’ consequences
Vladimir Safronkov, Russia's deputy UN envoy, condemned the US attack and warned that “the consequences could be extremely serious.”
Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Vladimir Safronkov speaks at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the Syria crisis at UN headquarters in New York, the US on April 7, 2017. /CFP Photo
He said the American attack had only strengthened terrorism. The Syrian air force has been combating terrorism for years, according to the Russian.
Safronkov reiterated Moscow's proposal that independent inspectors be sent to Khan Shaykhun with the UN Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons group to conduct an investigation into what happened there.
He said Russia is ready to cooperate with the US only if it cases its “aggression.”
Syria denounces 'barbaric, flagrant act’
Mounzer Mounzer, Syria's deputy ambassador to the UN, said the air strike was a "barbaric, flagrant act of aggression" in violation of both the UN Charter and international law.
An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the Syria crisis is held at UN headquarters in New York, the US on April 7, 2017. /CFP Photo
The Syrian government does not possess chemical weapons and would never use them under any conditions, Mounzer claimed
"This aggression will surely send an erroneous message to the terrorist groups, emboldening them to use more chemical weapons in the future," he said. "Look at what you are doing in Iraq."
Meanwhile, Egypt's representative called this week's events "living proof" that the Syrian people were the victims of a proxy war and called upon the US and Russia to seek a middle ground and a political settlement of the conflict.
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Ethiopia's Tekeda Alemu urged the Security Council to unite and shoulder its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, cautioning that it would lose credibility if it did not act.
UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres has publicly appealed for restraint.
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