“We call on the members of the so-called American coalition to allow humanitarian access to the areas of Syria under its control, including the Rukban refugee camp and the entire Al-Tanf area,” Sergey Lavrov told the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday. Moscow says the Rukban camp is used by jihadist fighters to recover between battles and seek new recruits, while the Americans turn a blind eye to their presence.

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Speaking to the UN body, Lavrov denounced the practice of labeling militant groups in Syria either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ based on their utility. “Some members of the council are defiantly reluctant to condemn international terrorism in all its forms, using freedom of speech as pretext.

“We consider it unacceptable to divide terrorists into ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ especially when it is done based on the goals of those extremists and the sources of their funding,” the Russian minister said. “Russia will continue to vigorously fight against this practice of double standards, including through assisting the Syrian Army in the final elimination of the terrorist threat.”

Lavrov said the humanitarian suffering in eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, where fighting continues despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, should be blamed on militant forces.

“Russia and the government of Syria have declared the establishment of humanitarian corridors in eastern Ghouta. The ball is in the court of the militants entrenched there and their sponsors, who prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of people wishing to leave this area, while continuing to shell Damascus,” he explained.

The diplomat said the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross should launch a mission in Raqqa to assess the situation there, saying the city was “bombed by the [US-led] coalition and left in the cold among hazardous mine fields and totally destroyed infrastructure.” Raqqa was the Syrian capital of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) before predominantly Kurdish militias with captured the city with US support. During the siege, Raqqa was ruined by heavy artillery shelling and airstrikes.

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