US Vows to Continue Push at United Nations for Nationwide Ceasefire in Syria

US Ambassador Samantha Power said that the the job of the UN Security Council is to call for a countrywide cessation of hostilities and to get the political process back on track in Syria.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – The United States will continue pushing for a cessation of hostilities across Syria but doubts the government in Damascus will fulfill promises to seek a political end to the country’s civil war, US Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters Monday.

Power spoke at UN headquarters in New York following a vote in which the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the monitoring of evacuations from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

"We have every reason to believe that the regime will continue to pursue a military solution despite fictional claims that it wants to be part of a political process," the US diplomat said. "Our job, as the Council and as the international community united, is to call for a countrywide cessation of hostilities and to get the political process back on track. The United States will never give up."

Power added that before the Security Council meeting she spoke to US Secretary of State John Kerry, who backed her position. She said it was possible the Council could convene an emergency session to address the crisis in Aleppo, but the immediate priority is to ensure the new resolution is implemented and that UN representatives be "relevant and present" for evacuations.

The Council’s vote was the result of extensive consultations Sunday to reach a compromise between French and Russian proposals for facilitating and monitoring the departure of civilians and rebels from eastern parts of Aleppo.

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