THE United Nations humanitarian chief has warned that the 12-year conflict in Syria has pushed 90 per cent of thes population below the poverty line.

Martin Griffiths said on Thursday that millions face cuts in food aid next month because of a funding shortfall.

This comes as the $5.4 billion (£4.2bn) UN humanitarian appeal for Syria, the world’s largest, remains only 12 per cent funded, meaning that emergency food aid for millions of the country’s people could be cut by 40 per cent in July.

Mr Griffiths delivered the grim news to the UN security council, along with an appeal to members to renew authorisation for the delivery of aid to Syria’s rebel-held north-west from Turkey, which is due to expire on July 10.

But Russia’s UN ambassador, whose country is the Damascus government’s most important ally, described the cross-border aid deliveries as “a zero-sum game” that is undermining Syria’s sovereignty, discriminating against government-controlled territory and fuelling illegal armed groups including “terrorists in Idlib.”

The war in Syria, now in its 13th year, has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of its pre-war population of 23 million. 

A deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit a large area of Syria in February, further compounding its misery.

Mr Griffiths, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, who returned from Damascus on, stressed that the Syrian people face “profound humanitarian challenges.”

He said that they were gathering on Eid al-Adh, a Muslim holy day that fell on Thursday, “with less food on their plates, little fuel in their stoves and limited water in their homes” and that their hardship comes at a time when the UN and its humanitarian partners have limited means to help.

Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the United States and its allies of spending far more on weapons for Ukraine than the $55bn (£43bn) that the UN is seeking for global humanitarian needs this year. “This lays out Western priorities very clearly,” he added.