At a high-stakes UN Security-Council meeting this tuesday‚ US and Russian diplomats got into a heated exchange about the latest syria developments. The urgent session happened after rebel forces took control of aleppo just days ago
The attack was done by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (a group that split from al-Qaeda bout 8 years ago and is now under UN sanctions). Robert Wood‚ the deputy US ambassador raised concerns but noted: “HTS terrorist status dont justify attacks on civilians by Assad and Russia“
Vassily Nebenzia‚ Russias UN rep fired back with strong words; he blamed Washington for not speaking against terrorist actions in Syrian cities. “We are pleased to be on opposite sides of the barricades from you“ he stated - showing clear displeasure with the US stance
The back-and-forth continued when Wood responded to criticism: claiming Moscow has no right to give lectures since it supports terror-sponsoring regimes worldwide (while US has fought terrorism for many years). The discussion highlighted deep divisions between these nations: making any progress on Syria peace talks more complex
The rebel group in question has quite a history - they used to be al-Qaedas branch in Syria; but changed their name and broke those ties. Now they control parts of northern syria which adds another layer to this already-complicated situation