Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Sunday, December 18, 2016

Russia to veto UN resolution on monitors for Aleppo

18 December 2016, 6:19 pm Edit

Russia is prepared to use its veto to block a French-drafted resolution on sending UN observers to Aleppo to monitor evacuations and help protect civilians, Moscow’s envoy says.

“We cannot allow it to pass because this is a disaster,” Ambassador Vitaly Churkin tells reporters.

A member of the pro-government forces monitors the area as buses drive through the Syrian regime-controlled crossing of Ramoussa, on the southern outskirts of Aleppo, on December 18, 2016. (AFP/George Ourfalian)

France circulated a draft text late Friday stating that the council is “alarmed” by the worsening humanitarian crisis in Aleppo and by the fact that “tens of thousands of besieged Aleppo inhabitants” are in need of aid and evacuation.

The UN Security Council was set to meet for closed-door consultations followed by a vote on the proposals.

Churkin says Russia, Syria’s ally, will put forward its own proposals for monitoring, but he declines to give details.

— AFP