US blocks UN Security Council statement condemning shelling of Russia’s embassy in Damascus

The United States has once again blocked the UN Security Council statement condemning the shelling of the Russian embassy in Damascus on November 20, Russia’s permanent mission to the UN said. This is “not the first time when the leaders of the so-called coalition use double standards with regard to the terrorist acts targeting Russian foreign institutions,” Fyodor Strzhizhovsky, press secretary of the Russian mission in New York, was quoted as saying by Sputnik. The Russian Embassy in Damascus has experienced a number of mortar attacks since the beginning of Moscow’s anti-terrorist campaign in September 2015. On Monday, terrorists once again shelled the Russian embassy, striking the fence using a 122mm shell which landed close to a residential building within the compound. No one was hurt in the attack. Russia “will continue to fight terrorists in Syria and will contribute to the establishment of peace and security in the Syrian Arab Republic," the Russian mission added, urging the Americans to show “consistency in eradication of armed groups that endanger the work of diplomats of different countries in Syria and the region as a whole.”