ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Russia criticized the tone and rhetoric used by US and Britain as “unacceptable” after a US representative accused them of "barbarism". On Sunday, the US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, said at a Security Council meeting that Russian and Syrian forces were "laying waste" to the rebel-held areas in Aleppo. "What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counter-terrorism, it is barbarism," the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, told the council. "Instead of pursuing peace, Russia and Assad make war. Instead of helping get life-saving aid to civilians, Russia and Assad are bombing the humanitarian convoys, hospitals and first responders who are trying desperately to keep people alive," Power added. The Russian delegation responded by accusing the rhetoric used by the US and UK of only deteriorating relations. "We note that the tone and rhetoric used by official representatives from the UK and US is generally unacceptable and it can seriously damage the settlement process and our bilateral relations, but in the interests of the higher ideas of settlement we are minded to detach ourselves from unnecessary emotion," Churkin said. Power continued to insist that Russia must take responsibility for what is happening in Aleppo particularly after the collapse of the ceasefire and that they are abusing their role as a member of the Security Council. "It is time to say who is carrying out those air strikes and who is killing civilians," Power told the council. "Russia holds a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. This is a privilege and it is a responsibility. Yet in Syria and in Aleppo, Russia is abusing this historic privilege,” she added. Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin responded by saying: "In Syria hundreds of armed groups are being armed, the territory of the country is being bombed indiscriminately and bringing a peace is almost an impossible task now because of this." "We note that the tone and rhetoric used by official representatives from the UK and US is generally unacceptable and it can seriously damage the settlement process and our bilateral relations, but in the interests of the higher ideas of settlement we are reminded to detach ourselves from unnecessary emotions," Churkin said. Meanwhile, since the latest US-and Russia-brokered ceasefire collapsed, Syrian forces hammered rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Sunday, killing at least 85 people and wounding more than 300 others, according to an activist group on the ground. Britain's U.N. ambassador, Matthew Rycroft, also commented on the U.S. and Russian bid to bring peace to Syria on Sunday by saying "is very, very near the end of its life and yes the Security Council needs to be ready to fulfill our responsibilities." Rycroft went on to tell council that "the regime and Russia have instead plunged to new depths and unleashed a new hell on Aleppo. Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes." Pro-Kremlin media in Russia have dismissed the accusations by the US and UK as “groundless” while Russian state-owned newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta criticized the US and its allies by accusing them of attempting to "exert pressure on Damascus and Moscow, while doing nothing to meet their own obligations".
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