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STORY: UN / SYRIA
TRT: 2:17
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 OCTOBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
17 OCTOBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
2. Pan left, Churkin approaching stakeout
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“Terrorists must be fought. It is as simple as that. And it is not just what we want to do, it is what the Security Council resolutions want all of us to do. We cannot leave them alone in Mosul. We cannot declare Nusra people honorary citizens of eastern Aleppo, honorary citizens of Aleppo. Something needs to be done about them. One way to deal with them is for the moderate fighters to tell them to go because they outnumber Nusra quite considerably. Another way for them is to leave Syria (Aleppo) with arrangements which we proposed with Staffan de Mistura. Or we must be found to defeat them. They cannot simply be allowed to stay there making the lives of civilians miserable as they have been doing for such a long time.”
4. Wide shot, Churkin at podium
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“Our military and the American military were supposed to get down to it today, and they were supposed, possibly, to be joined by the military from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar. In fact those countries did express their intention to work hard with those moderate opposition groups in order for them to be separated from Nusra. So this work was supposed to have started today, earlier today.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
6. Close up, journalist writing
17 OCTOBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“Well if there is a broader arrangement of the nature I have described, when Nusra is taken out of the picture, it could be an indefinite ceasefire. This cessation of hostilities was supposed to be an indefinite regime. But we saw a situation where Nusra was immediately taking advantage of any cessation of hostilities in order to regroup and receive more weapons, and to pick up fighting elsewhere.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
8. Close up, journalist writing
17 OCTOBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“I expect them from time to time to show some integrity, you know; no double standards. If they embrace humanitarian considerations and make proposals in one case, why don’t they embrace the same kind of humanitarian approach and make similar proposals in a similar case. Then you would see, are they hypocritical or not. But if they change their tune depending on the situation, then, you know, one starts wondering about their integrity.”
10. Zoom out, Churkin leaving stakeout
Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Al-Nusra fighters could not be declared “honorary citizens of Aleppo” and must either leave the city or face defeat.
Speaking to the press today (17 Oct) following a closed Security Council meeting on the situation in the city, Churkin said moderate fighters in Eastern Aleppo outnumbered Al-Nusra “quite considerably” and could force them to leave if they genuinely wanted to stop the fighting. He stressed, however, that all armed groups in the city were coordinating with Al-Nusra and every move was being “cleared by Al-Nusra headquarters.”
Churkin said the discussion in the Council today was much more “pragmatic” as members tried to build on the momentum of talks over the weekend in the Swiss city of Lausanne. He emphasised the importance of separating the moderate opposition from Al-Nusra and said Russian and American military personnel were “were supposed to get down to it today.” Churkin added that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar expressed “their intention to work hard with those moderate opposition groups in order for them to be separated from Nusra.”
The Russian ambassador said that a “unilateral” eight-hour ceasefire had been declared in eastern Aleppo. Asked why that period was not being extended to the 48-hour period the United Nations (UN) asked for to deliver humanitarian aid, Churkin said that would require all sides to implement. He said if there was a broader arrangement where Al-Nusra was “taken out of the picture, it could be an indefinite ceasefire.”
In response to a question on a draft resolution being circulated by the United Kingdom on Yemen, Churkin said he did not see the document but was “curious” to see if it includes a “no-fly zone” over Sana’a. He said if they embrace a no-fly zone over Aleppo it would “make sense” for them to include the same in this case “after all those massacres we have seen in Sana’a.” Churkin said, “If they change their tune depending on the situation, then, you know, one starts wondering about their integrity.”
