"[In Deir ez-Zor ] in fact, all the people have been reached with sufficient food for one month, and these are the joint operations with Russian pilots, WFP [World Food Program] planes, US funding and cooperation,…and a contribution from countries like the Netherlands, like Germany, like many others. There is no reason, no excuse that we should not be in a position of arguing strongly and pushing for having similar or equivalent… in order to reach every other civilian wherever inside Syria," de Mistura told reporters.
Syria has been mired in civil war since March 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups.
Some 200,000 people living under the Daesh-imposed siege of Deir ez-Zor are experiencing severe water shortages and a total lack of electricity, according to the United Nations.
In February, members of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) agreed to a cessation of hostilities to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Syrian towns and areas besieged by Daesh, a militant jihadist group outlawed in many countries, including Russia. Regular UN humanitarian aid airdrops to Deir ez-Zor began in April.
As for Russia, it has been supplying food, medicine and construction materials to besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria since the beginning of 2016, and is also engaged in UN-led humanitarian efforts in Syria.
On Wednesday, a Russian military transport plane airdropped the latest portion of 21 metric tons of UN food supplies to residents of Deir ez-Zor, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
