The White House held a background briefing on July 9 from an unnamed “senior administration official” discussing the call between President’s Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, and the unanimous vote in the UN Security Council extending the authorization of cross-border humanitarian aid through the border opening from Turkey into Idlib Province in Syria, which included for the first time a condition negotiated by Russia to move towards giving the government control over the distribution of aid throughout the country.
The briefer said there were two topics (although a four-hour call certainly included other topics as well), cyber and Syria. On cyber, he said no more than Biden told the press after the call (see another report in this briefing).
On Syria, it became contentious. The briefer said: “I really want to underscore because I think it deserves some attention. The leaders commended the work of their respective teams following the U.S.-Russia summit that led to today’s unanimous renewal of cross-border humanitarian assistance to Syria in the UN Security Council. And I genuinely encourage you to reach out to NGOs and other humanitarian organizations about the impact of this. For months, we’ve been concerned about the likelihood, if not a near certainty, of a Russian veto of the UN Security Council resolution that allows for humanitarian assistance to be provided across the Syrian border from Turkey. And it is our strong sense that only leader-level engagement along the lines that took place at the summit in Geneva would have gotten this extension done and this access secured at a time of severe humanitarian distress and need in Syria. So, we think that’s quite a consequential action and a genuine impact of the President’s personal engagement and of the summit.”
