Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, to condemn the killing of certain family members in cold blood by the Assad regime in retaking Aleppo? What I watched on CNN this morning was heart wrenching. The Minister should ask the Russian ambassador to Ireland, Mr. Maxim Peshkov, in the strongest terms not to allow the Russian army to stand by and watch this massacre happen. What we are seeing is genocide, but the watching world is doing nothing. We are not taking sides in the conflict. There are rights and wrongs on both sides, but what I saw happening this morning was not right. Yesterday morning I heard that 76 young men and boys who had been trying to get out of Aleppo had been caught by the regime and disappeared off the face of the Earth. Family members cannot get in contact with them and their mobile phones are not working. Something is wrong. I want the Minister to tell the Russian ambassador that the Irish people will not stand by and watch this slaughter of the innocents.