De Mistura said he would brief the U.N. Security Council on Friday and then announce a date for a new round of talks, but declined to comment further.
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Amid concern over exactly where the aid ended up, officials said adjustments were now being made but that they would try again.
Ja’afari, who is the chief Syrian government negotiator at peace talks, said this is essential to halt support by some countries for “terrorist organizations” that are escalating the conflict and undermining a political solution. The two foreign ministers are co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) Ceasefire Taskforce formed in Munich, Germany. He says initial reports from Syrian Arab Red Crescent teams on the ground say the pallets landed in the target area.
Reaching Deir-ez-Zor, which is besieged by ISIS extremists, is a key goal because the city accounts for almost half of the 480 000 people living in besieged areas in Syria, senior United Nations advisor Jan Egeland explains.
However, an air-drop of food to 200,000 people on Wednesday in the eastern town of Deir al-Zor, which is besieged by Islamic State, a jihadi group that the United Nations has no contact with, ran into problems, Egeland said.
Egeland said “the best humanitarian logisticians in the world are working on how to make this lifeline to 200,000 people in Deir Ezzor, mostly women and children, work”.
The U.S. envoy for Syria Michael Ratney said in a statement the HNC’s recommendations are being carefully considered.
But he says the U.N.is still waiting for approval to reach 170,000 additional people in besieged areas and “we expect those approvals to happen immediately”. The cease-fire will not cover the Islamic State group, al-Qaida’s Syria branch known as the Nusra Front and other militant groups. Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of President Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
Turkey’s prime minister has warned a Syrian Kurdish militia against taking advantage of an upcoming truce in Syria for actions that threaten Turkey’s security.
However, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric later told reporters the WFP was still trying to get information on where the aid ended up, suggesting it may not have all reached the target area.
Last week, Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent resolve in Baghdad, called on the YPG to stop fighting with other U.S.-backed rebel groups in Syria.
But he later said that the talks would be impossible to resume on February 25.
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O’Brien stressed that the ceasefire deal agreed by the United States and Russian Federation must produce an “immediate end” to attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and markets. Russian Federation and the Syrian government and the U.S.-led coalition, according to the agreement, are allowed to keep on striking at the Islamic State group and the Nusra Front during the cease-fire.
