Russia and China have blocked a UN Security Council resolution on the truce in Syria’s Idlib province as it didn’t provide an exemption for military action against terrorist groups blacklisted by the UN itself.

It was the 13th time that Moscow has used its veto power at the UNSC since the Syrian conflict broke out in 2011.

The real aim of the resolution, put together by Kuwait, Germany and Belgium, was “saving the international terrorists entrenched in Idlib from complete annihilation and portraying Russia and Syria as the culprits of what is happening there,” Russian envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said.

The Russian delegation warned the co-authors that their draft was bound to fail, but they still put it to vote, “deliberately disrupting the unity of the Council,” he pointed out.

The alternative ceasefire resolution, which was drafted by Moscow, also failed to garner enough support, with 12 countries voting against it.

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Mutual blocking of resolutions by Russia and the West has become a sort of a trend in the Security Council, as the sides are unable to find common ground on how to resolve the crisis in Syria.

Russia is backing the elected President Bashar Assad in his fight against terrorism, while the US has thrown its weight behind the anti-government rebels and insists the ‘dictator’ must be removed from power.

Idlib Province in northern Syria remains the last part of the country controlled by the terrorists. The West has blamed the Syrian government and Russia, which is backing the government forces with aviation, of striking civilians during the five-month long operation in the area.

Moscow and Damascus deny the claims, saying that they only target the militants, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is the new name for the infamous Al Qaeda-linked group Jabhat al-Nusra.

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