Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin calls on UNSC not to discredit ceasefire

Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin has called on his UNSC colleagues not to complicate the situation in Syria and not to discredit a ceasefire proposed by Russia and Turkey.

Churkin made the comments on Saturday, after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution welcoming a ceasefire agreement in Syria.

The nationwide ceasefire in Syria, which came into effect on Thursday midnight, has been largely holding, with most of the country witnessing a relative calm.

"This is a very important initiative. This resolution which was adopted by us today speaks to the need to have compliance with cessation of hostilities of regime in Syria and of a very important meeting in Astana, where delegations of the opposition and of the government will for the first time meet face to face,” he added.

The Astana talks will be mediated by Russia, Turkey, and Iran. The three countries successfully implemented a similar accord earlier this month following the defeat of militants in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo.

Churkin also called on other UNSC members for their aid as the peace process in Syria is a highly complicated and difficult process.  

“If you can't help, if you don't want to help, just make sure that you don't complicate things," he noted.

Members of the UN Security Council meet on December 31, 2016, at the UN Headquarters in New York, after unanimously approving a resolution supporting a Russian-Turkish peace initiative for Syria, including an ongoing ceasefire and talks next month in Kazakhstan.

US, UK: We hope ceasefire holds

The deputy US permanent representative to the UN, Michele Sison, also hailed the vote, and voiced hopes that the ceasefire would hold.

"We have voted in favor of this resolution because it strikes the right balance - cautious optimism and support, predicated on hope, but tempered by a realistic need to wait to see how this arrangement is implemented before casting the full weight of the Security Council behind it,” she added.

The UK’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Peter Wilson, also hailed the vote and voiced hopes that it holds.

“As we end 2016 we can all agree that it is time to end bloodshed in Syria. The ceasefire is still very fresh and the situation on the ground will develop in the coming days and weeks. But if this ceasefire holds then I sincerely hope that it can provide the foundation for a breakthrough in the wide political process and that 2017 turns out to be a far better year for the people of Syria than 2016 has been," he said.

Since March 2011, Syria has been gripped by militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies.

The Takfiri terrorists operating in the Arab country have suffered major setbacks over the past few months as the army has managed to liberate a number of areas from their grip.