China and Russia Veto UN on Aleppo Ceasefire

Russia and China rejected the UN Security Council resolution for a seven-day ceasefire in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo. It was the sixth Russian veto since 2011 on a Syria-themed resolution though China joined for the fifth time. Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current rotating council president, called the vote a “waste of time” and “inadmissible”, claiming the Security Council met knowing that neither resolution would be adopted.  The draft resolution demanded that all parties engaged in conflict must allow immediate and safe humanitarian access to all of Aleppo for the United Nations and its partners; however, it did not include groups the council categorises as terrorist organisations such as ISIS and Al-Nusra Front.