UPDATE 2-Russia calls new UN Syria aid-access draft a "non-starter"

 (Adds quote from draft, letter from prominent individuals, Amos 
briefing) 
    By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau 
    UNITED NATIONS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Australia, Luxembourg and 
Jordan have presented to the five permanent U.N. Security 
Council members a draft resolution demanding full access for aid 
workers across Syria, which was quickly dismissed by Russia as a 
"non-starter." 
    Western diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity 
that the council's five veto powers - Britain, China, France, 
Russia and the United States - received the draft resolution on 
Thursday but have yet to hold substantive discussions on it. 
    Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin made clear on Friday 
Moscow dislikes the draft. 
    "It's a non-starter, it's very disappointing, even worse 
than some texts we saw a couple of months ago," Churkin told 
Reuters at a Russian reception at U.N. headquarters to screen 
the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  
    "Why they even bothered to circulate it or produce it - I'm 
really surprised, I'm really surprised," he said. 
    When asked what aspects of the draft resolution he didn't 
like, Churkin replied: "Everything, it's a non-starter." 
    Diplomats said the resolution condemns rights abuses and 
indiscriminate attacks on civilians and urges an end to sieges, 
demilitarization of schools and hospitals and lifting 
bureaucratic obstacles that hinder aid deliveries. 
    It also "expresses its intent" to impose sanctions on 
individuals and entities obstructing humanitarian assistance and 
if certain demands in the resolution are not met within a 
specific time period, the diplomats said. 
    Another Western diplomat said the Russians were trying to 
avoid a swift meeting on the draft, adding that the Russians 
appeared to be "trying to postpone it as much as possible." 
    U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said 
on Thursday that it was "critical that the Security Council move 
forward in order to signal to the regime that humanitarian 
access is not optional, that it is required." 
    "We do support a humanitarian resolution ... and we're 
hopeful that something like that can be achieved," she said. 
    With a second round of Syria peace talks set to resume in 
Geneva next week, some Western diplomats said that they might 
not rush to put the resolution to vote immediately to avoid 
disrupting the fragile negotiations in Switzerland.  
     
    RUSSIAN AND CHINESE VETOES 
    U.N. aid chief Valerie Amos will brief the Security Council 
next Thursday on the problems she faces getting access to 
Syria's neediest. 
    Churkin on Wednesday called for more work to improve aid 
access before considering a resolution. He warned that any draft 
resolution on Syria aid access would likely "politicize the 
problem" and would simply be aimed at "whipping up the nerves." 
   
    Russia and China have vetoed three resolutions condemning 
Syria's government and threatening it with possible sanctions. 
    "This issue is not about the politicization of the 
humanitarian effort, it's about the introduction of humanity 
into the political effort," David Miliband, president of aid 
organization International Rescue Committee, told Reuters on 
Friday. 
    Some 48 former top diplomats published an open letter in the 
Financial Times and the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta urging 
Russian President Vladimir Putin not to block the resolution. 
The signatories include former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine 
Albright, billionaire philanthropists George Soros and Richard 
Branson and former EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.  
    The United Nations says some 9.3 million Syrians, nearly 
half the population, need help and U.N. aid chief Valerie Amos 
has repeatedly expressed frustration that violence and red tape 
have slowed delivery of humanitarian assistance to a trickle. 
    Western members of the 15-member Security Council have been 
considering a resolution on aid for almost a year. After months 
of talks, the council eventually adopted a non-binding statement 
on Oct. 2 urging more access to aid.    
    But that statement produced only a little administrative 
progress, such as visas for aid workers and clearance for 
convoys. No action has been taken on big issues such as the 
demilitarization of schools and hospitals, and access to 
besieged and hard-to-reach communities.  
    After a first round of peace talks in Geneva last week 
initially failed to reach a deal on aid to some 2,500 Syrians 
trapped in the besieged Old City of Homs, Western and Arab 
nations planned to press for a legally binding resolution. But 
overnight a possible deal on Homs appeared to be emerging.  
    Syria evacuated three busloads of civilians from a besieged 
area of Homs on Friday, the first stage of a planned three-day 
humanitarian ceasefire in the city which has suffered some of 
the worst devastation of Syria's three-year conflict. 
   
    Miliband said the Homs evacuation "offers a crumb of comfort 
to (the Syrians), but a crumb is a long way from a whole loaf." 
    The United Nations says that well over 100,000 people have 
been killed in the Syrian civil war. The opposition Syrian 
Observatory for Human Rights has said that more than 136,000 
have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar 
al-Assad began in March 2011. 
 
 (Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid and Chizu Nomiyama) 
 ((louis.charbonneau@thomsonreuters.com)(+1-212-355-6053)) 
 
Keywords: SYRIA CRISIS/UN