UN adopts resolution supporting efforts by Russia and Turkey to end violence in Syria

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution supporting efforts by Russia and Turkey to end the nearly six-year conflict in Syria and jumpstart peace negotiations.

The resolution approved on Dec. 31 also calls for the "rapid, safe and unhindered" delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Syria. And it looks forward to a meeting of the Syrian government and opposition representative in Kazakhstan's capital Astana in late January.

Western members of the council had sought changes to the draft resolution circulated by Russia and Turkey during consultations early on Dec. 31 to clarify the role of the U.N. and the meaning of the agreement brokered by Moscow and Ankara.

The final text dropped an endorsement of the Syria cease-fire agreement brokered by Moscow and Ankara. And it changed the draft to call the Astana meeting "an important step ahead of the resumption of negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on Feb. 8, 2017.