PARIS. Jan 13 (Interfax) - Russia, the United States and the UN are expecting the Syrian opposition to make efforts to expand the access of humanitarian aid to districts blocked by forces resisting the Syrian regime.
"We are expecting the same gestures from the opposition regarding the parts of Syria, which are currently cut off by the detachments fighting the regime," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference following talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi.
"We are working to expand the opportunities for the access of humanitarian aid to the districts which have been blocked by the government and the opposition. And we have mutual understanding here with our U.S. colleagues to act in parallel," Lavrov said.
"The Syrian government has announced its readiness to deliver humanitarian convoys to a number of places today and its "readiness to act jointly with the opposition groups with the support of Russia, the U.S. and the International Red Cross with the delivery of humanitarian aid to the districts of eastern Ghouta and a number of other Damascus suburbs," Lavrov said.
"The government said today that it will ensure the delivery of the humanitarian convoy to Yarmouk, the camp of Palestinian refugees. Such an attempt was made several days ago - it was disrupted by militants who blocked the way," Lavrov said.
At the current stage the most important thing is to ensure the satisfaction of needs of the population, not to discuss the consequences, which could occur if humanitarian cargo is not delivered and "not to attempt to again swing a club and to threaten somebody," the Russian foreign minister said.
"Moreover, it is unclear who to threaten. The delivery of humanitarian aid is disrupted firstly by militants. They account for the lives of 32 humanitarian employees of international organizations. These are known facts. So I would prefer to concentrate now on a positive agenda, we have already gone through this - threats, sanctions and ultimatums. They do not bring anything good," Lavrov said.