NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

NZ's blunt message to Russia on Syria: 'Your support is destroying innocent lives'

Nicholas Jones
By Nicholas Jones
Investigative Reporter·NZ Herald·
25 Sep, 2016 09:57 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A Civil Defence group and residents inspect damaged buildings after airstrikes hit the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria. Photo / AP

A Civil Defence group and residents inspect damaged buildings after airstrikes hit the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria. Photo / AP

New Zealand has demanded that Syria stop the bombing its own civilians - telling the U.N. Security Council Russia's support of the Assad regime is "destroying innocent lives".

The strong condemnation was made at an emergency meeting called to discuss worsening violence in Syria and as government planes bomb the city of Aleppo.

And it comes as Prime Minister John Key says Russian president Vladimir Putin's ego is driving much of his country's policy on the conflict.

The United States has accused Russia of "barbarism", and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it may have committed war crimes.

VIDEO: John Key: Syrian President has got to go

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A ceasefire between the Syrian Government and rebel forces collapsed last week when an aid convoy was bombed.

Fighting has since intensified in Aleppo, where more than 250,000 civilians are trapped.

The Syrian airforce push to capture the rebel-controlled areas of the city has Russian and Iranian support and there are reports of thousands of civilian casualties.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

New Zealand's Acting Ambassador Carolyn Schwalger chaired the Security Council emergency meeting and told members New Zealand "demands that the Syrian Government immediately cease its bombing of civilians and demonstrate genuine commitment to achieving a negotiated peace".

All countries but particularly those with most influence over the Syrian Government should do the same, Schwalger said in the unusually blunt statement.

"I speak in particular to those whose political and material support is making the Syrian Government's current actions possible.

"Your support is undermining any remaining prospects for the peace process. And it is destroying innocent lives under the guise of countering terrorism."

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

NZ faces tough task to help Syrians

22 Aug 11:24 PM
World

'Blood on the hands of everybody'

21 Sep 09:46 PM
World

Syria slams 'US incompetence'

22 Sep 05:00 PM
World

Scores of children killed as jets unleash savage assault

26 Sep 04:00 PM

Syria needed to ground its planes and hold back its armies.

"New Zealand appeals to the governments of Russia and Iran - if you are serious about peace, do everything in your power in the coming days to halt the fighting and give the US-Russia arrangements a chance."

Russia has blamed the ceasefire breakdown on the rebel forces, including those backed by the West, and says some groups in eastern Aleppo are holding the local population hostage and using them as human shields.

Schwalger said New Zealand recognised that those opposed to the rule of President Bashar al-Assad also had responsibilities, and countries with influence on the opposition needing to encourage respect for the ceasefire and the disassociation with terrorist groups.

"However, what the Syrian Government and its allies are doing is making that disassociation harder and prolonging the war.

"All involved in Syria need to take a hard look at themselves and ask whether they intend to be genuine collaborators in the search for peace."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It is New Zealand's turn to hold the Presidency of the Security Council this month and Prime Minister John Key is back in the country after travelling to New York where he chaired a heated Security Council debate on the Syria crisis.

Schwalger referenced Key's statement, saying Security Council members in response agreed points including that there can be no military solution to the Syrian conflict, and the urgent need to stop the fighting.

"It is therefore with utter dismay that we find ourselves back in this Chamber as Syrian planes, reportedly with Russian support, inflict carnage on eastern Aleppo.

"These actions, reportedly including the use of incendiary and other indiscriminate weapons, are disturbing and demonstrate total disregard for their devastating impact on civilians."

This morning, Key told Newstalk ZB the Syrian crisis was "deeply frustrating".

"You go back to 2010 people were holidaying there. Now you have half the entire population displaced, hundreds of people losing their lives, those scenes you see on your nightly tv screens of beautiful little children dying."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Key said he believed the Russians did want a ceasefire but for different reasons to the West.

"A lot of it comes down to, A, backing their man Assad, B, proving they stand by their man Assad, but maybe the main thing is [Russian president] Vladimir Putin's ego - he wants to say, 'You want to get resolutions to issues, I'm your guy and come to Moscow."

There was "no long-term place for Assad" as Syrian leader, Key said, but there would have to be a transition period if Russia was to support his ousting.

"This is a guy who has used chemical weapons against his own people, amongst everything else. He has to go."

Save the Children has cited reports that about half of recent casualties in Aleppo were children.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Crime

Duo jailed after vigilante burglary of Epsom mansion terrorises wrong woman

20 Jun 06:00 AM
New Zealand

NZ pauses $18.2m aid to Cook Islands amid China deal tensions

20 Jun 05:27 AM
New Zealand

Speed limit on part of Te Ngae Rd to rise following review

20 Jun 05:01 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Duo jailed after vigilante burglary of Epsom mansion terrorises wrong woman

Duo jailed after vigilante burglary of Epsom mansion terrorises wrong woman

20 Jun 06:00 AM

They were paid to target a woman embroiled in an alleged international pyramid scheme.

NZ pauses $18.2m aid to Cook Islands amid China deal tensions

NZ pauses $18.2m aid to Cook Islands amid China deal tensions

20 Jun 05:27 AM
Speed limit on part of Te Ngae Rd to rise following review

Speed limit on part of Te Ngae Rd to rise following review

20 Jun 05:01 AM
Premium
In pictures: Matariki in Beijing

In pictures: Matariki in Beijing

20 Jun 03:56 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP