War of words between US, Russia following attack on Syrian aid convoy

World Today

War of words between US, Russia following attack on aid convoy in Syria

A war of words at the United Nations Wednesday as the US and Russia continued to accuse each other of carrying out Monday’s deadly attack on an aid convoy in Syria.

The attack had unraveled a fragile ceasefire. But even as clashes intensify, the UN said it plans to resume some aid convoys as soon as Thursday to deliver urgent aid to Syrians.

CCTV America’s Liling Tan reports the story.

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“Then we heard a completely different story. The defense ministry said that the aid convoy had been accompanied by militants in a pick-up truck with a mortar. We’ve seen no evidence of that, but that in any case would not justify a violation of the cessation of hostilities. And by the way, that mortar could never have inflicted the damage that has been caused on those trucks,” John Kerry, U.S. secretary of state said.

“Many said it could have been a rocket or an artillery shelling — that was what the initial reports were. Then helicopters or warplanes were mentioned, so I think we need to refrain from emotional reactions and not make comments immediately, public comments but first to investigate and be very professional,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

Monday’s attack on an aid convoy delivering supplies to a town near Aleppo city had further derailed an already fragile ceasefire brokered by both U.S. and Russia. It thrust the UN into emergency mode to salvage a truce meant to pave the way for a political peace process.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed outrage at the attack that killed 20 people on Monday, and tried to bring the focus back to ending the protracted Syrian war.

“We are at a make or break moment. I challenge everyone to use their influence now to restore a cessation of hostilities, enable humanitarian assistance everywhere it is needed and support the United Nations in charting a political path for the Syrians to negotiate a way out of the hell in which they are trapped,” Moon said.


Joseph Bahout talks about the Syrian Crisis

For a deeper understanding of the state of the crisis in Syria, CCTV America’s Asieh Namdar spoke with Joseph Bahout, a visiting scholar at the Middle East Program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.