UN Council to meet Friday on Syria's Idlib

The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Friday to discuss an uptick in violence in the embattled Syrian opposition stronghold of Idlib, diplomats told AFP.

The meeting -- which will begin at 10:00 am (2030 IST) -- comes at the request of Britain and France, with the backing of the United States, the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Thursday.

Some diplomats hope the session will provide an occasion to discuss the reauthorisation of cross-border UN humanitarian aid deliveries to millions of Syrians.

Humanitarian aid currently flows into Syria through UN-designated checkpoints in Turkey and Iraq without the formal permission of the regime in Damascus, but that arrangement expires on January 10.

Last month, Russia and China vetoed a resolution that would have extended those deliveries for a year. Moscow says it will only approve a six-month extension using two checkpoints.

Three million people in the Idlib area benefit from that aid, according to the United Nations.

In a telephone call on Thursday, US President Donald Trump and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on "the need for de-escalation in Idlib, Syria, in order to protect civilians," the White House said.

On Thursday, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore called for an "immediate cessation of hostilities in the northwest of Syria."