United Nations (Xinhua) - The UN Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution renewing the mandate of the cross-border aid delivery mechanism to Syria for a period of six months.

The current mandate expired on Sunday after the Security Council failed on Friday to adopt any resolution to renew the mechanism.

Russia vetoed a draft resolution drawn up by Ireland and Norway demanding a 12-month renewal of the mandate.

A Russian draft resolution that would have renewed the mechanism for six months failed to obtain the necessary votes for approval.

Resolution 2642, adopted by 12 votes in favor, with three abstentions, decides to extend permission for aid deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the border with Turkey until January 10, 2023.

An extension of another six months would require a separate Security Council resolution.

Britain, France and the United States abstained from voting.

The resolution calls on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to submit a special report on the humanitarian needs in Syria no later than December 10, 2022.

It also requests the Secretary-General to brief the Security Council on a monthly basis and to report regularly at least every 60 days on the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2642, and on compliance by all concerned parties in Syria.

and further requests the Secretary-General to include in his reports general trends of United Nations operations across safe and unhindered lines, in particular with regard to its progress throughout Syria on early recovery projects, as well as detailed information on humanitarian assistance delivered through cross-border operations, Including its transparency, distribution mechanism, number of beneficiaries and operating partners, aid delivery locations at the district level, and the volume and nature of items delivered.

The resolution urges the holding of an informal interactive dialogue of the Security Council every two months with the participation of donors, interested regional parties, and representatives of international humanitarian agencies operating in Syria, in order to regularly review and follow up the implementation of Resolution 2642, including the progress made in early recovery projects.

The resolution welcomes the ongoing efforts and encourages further initiatives to expand humanitarian activities in Syria, including water, sanitation, health, education, electricity and early shelter recovery projects undertaken by humanitarian organizations, and calls on other international humanitarian agencies and relevant parties to support them.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed hope that the Security Council would renew the cross-border mechanism after six months.

"We asked for its renewal for one year, and I very much hope it will be renewed after six months," he told reporters after the adoption of Resolution 2642.

Cross-border aid is essential for the people of Idlib, he said. It is a matter of life and death for many of them.