Divided UN fails to agree on Turkey’s Syria offensive

A split UN Security Council on Thursday night failed to agree on Turkey’s offensive in northeast Syria, with European members urging a halt to military action.

But Syria’s ally Russia urged “restraint” and “direct dialogue” between the two countries. Russian officials said Moscow was not prepared to sign off on the statement presented by the Europeans.

The meeting was called at the request of the body’s European members – Germany, France, the UK, Belgium, and Poland, all of which had expressed alarm at Turkey’s move. However, the 15-member Security Council was unable to agree on a joint statement condemning the attack.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said any Security Council statement would have to take into account other aspects of the Syrian crisis. He said it should demand an immediate termination of “the illegal military presence” in the country.

The five European countries later urged Turkey to “cease the unilateral military action.”

Meanwhile, the US warned Turkey of “consequences” as Ankara’s troops push on their assault on Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria on Thursday.

Meanwhile Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Thursday that Italy will call for the EU to take action in relation to Turkey after Ankara launched an operation against Kurdish forces in Syria. “On Monday we have a meeting of the Council of European foreign affairs ministers and it will be very important to come out of that meeting and of the following ones with a single voice,” 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Di Maio said on the fringes of an Italy-Latin America conference at the foreign ministry in Rome. “Italy will call for action with a single voice, including via the use of measures regarding Turkey that invite it to turn back on the offensive that it has decided to enact”.

Via DW/ANSA