At a United Nations Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Russia and the United States accused one another of backing terrorism amid a surge in violence in Syria. Syrian rebels recently took control of Aleppo in an offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group that was formerly known as the Nusra Front and served as al-Qaeda’s official representative in Syria until severing ties in 2016.
This organization is on the U.N. Security Council’s list of sanctioned groups. Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood urged for an end to the fighting in Syria and called for the safeguarding of civilians. He raised concerns that the offensive was driven by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, stating, “The classification of HTS as a terrorist organization by both the U.S. and the U.N. does not excuse the ongoing atrocities committed by the Assad regime and its allies in Russia,” accusing them of causing civilian harm through attacks on educational and medical facilities.
In response, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia directed his remarks at Wood, saying, “You lack the courage to denounce the blatant terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in Syrian cities.” He added, “We have no misconceptions that Washington will ever genuinely fight international terrorism,” expressing satisfaction that they are on opposing sides. Wood countered by asserting that Nebenzia was not in a position to criticize the U.S. on this matter because Russia supports regimes that endorse terrorism globally. He reiterated that “The United States has battled the threat of terrorism for decades and will persist in combating it.”
