France confirmed that it holds the presidency of the Security Council for a month and it will focus on two main issues during its presidency of the Security Council this month: humanitarian issues and Middle East issues, especially Yemen, Syria and Libya, but it is preoccupied in the first ten days of its presidency in the issue of the transfer of aid across the Syrian border.

In a press conference from the permanent headquarters, Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, reviewed his country's priorities during the presidency of the Security Council for the month of July.

He indicated at the beginning of his conversation with journalists that the first ten days of her assumption of the presidency, France will be engaged in intense negotiations - which have already begun - regarding the renewal of the mandate for the cross-border aid delivery mechanism in Syria.

"This matter must be completed in the first 10 days of France's presidency of the Security Council," the French ambassador said, explaining that a decision may not be reached except in the last moments or the last days.

The French ambassador said that the situation in Syria remains very bad, and the population needs humanitarian aid in the northwest and northeast of the country.

He stressed the need to preserve humanitarian access, noting that there is no objection to operations within the lines, but now the current situation does not allow this to be done.

As negotiations continued on this matter, Ambassador de Riviere assured that as President he would make sure that the dialogue leads to a positive outcome.

He pointed out that 92 percent of humanitarian aid to Syria is provided by the European Union, the United States, Canada and Japan.

This month, France gives priority to humanitarian issues. On July 6, it will organize a ministerial meeting on the protection of humanitarian space, and on July 16, in the presence of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and UNHCR, and chaired by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Security Council will discuss good practices with regard to humanitarian aid and the need to preserve humanitarian space and protect humanitarian and medical personnel, and to assist needy.

The second priority will be for the Middle East, according to the French ambassador, who said “as you know, the situation in general is very fragile in that region, whether we talk about Libya, Syria, Yemen or any other region. During the month of July, we will focus in particular on that area."

On July 15, another meeting will be held at a ministerial level with the participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Libya related to the implementation of decisions on Libya, including the implementation and monitoring of the ceasefire, the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries, and the preparation of elections.

There will also be other meetings on Yemen (July 14) and Lebanon (July 22) and the monthly debate on Israel and Palestine (July 28).

France takes over the presidency of the Security Council during the month of July, an opportunity that repeats every 15 months. The President of the Security Council confirmed that all meetings in July will be personal, and there will be no meetings via video technology.

On the importance of this, de Riviere said "I think this is important because the Security Council is also a dialogue between the 15 representatives, and the goal is to find common ground in an attempt to make progress in resolving crises, and for this reason we will try to encourage such interactions and more consultations among the 15 ambassadors, not just giving speeches."