Diplomats seek deal to keep critical Syria aid flowing

Diplomats at the United Nations held last-ditch discussions on extending Syrian cross-border aid Sunday, as residents of the country’s rebel-held northwest feared life-saving supplies could soon halt.

The lack of an agreement threatens to upend assistance to more than two million people.

The aid delivery mechanism across Turkey’s border into rebel-held Syria at the Bab al-Hawa crossing is the only way UN assistance can reach civilians without navigating areas controlled by Syrian government forces.

Diplomats said the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council had proposed a nine-month extension in an effort to break the impasse, that pits Russia against the United States, France and Britain in particular, against the backdrop of the Ukraine conflict.