The UN envoy was himself in Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday, before heading to Berlin to meet with host Frank-Walter Steinmeier, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Syrian opposition leader Riad Hijab.
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Kerry said the United States was coordinating closely with Russian Federation to finalize strengthened monitoring of the extension of the cessation of hostilities to Aleppo.
“Those responsible for war crimes must be held to account”, he said, adding that the Syrian opposition also had caused some “death and destruction” with shelling in Aleppo.
Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov gave no details Wednesday about how many aircraft remained, saying only that it was precisely the number necessary for fighting the Islamic State group and the Syrian al-Qaida affiliate known as the Nusra Front. “Even if a ceasefire was agreed that covered Aleppo city, I don’t think the opposition will ever trust that it’s more than a temporary pause in the regime’s plans”, he added, speaking before news of the Aleppo truce agreement broke.
After a weekly meeting of humanitarian nations supporting the peace process, he told reporters, “We seem to be having new possible besieged areas on our watch, we are having hundreds of relief workers unable to move in Aleppo”. The humanitarian task force chaired by Egeland enjoyed some success in opening up access for aid in April, ensuring it reached 40 percent of people in besieged areas in Syria, compared to 5 percent in the whole of 2015. It has also overseen 22 airdrops of aid into the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, where 110,000 people are besieged by ISIS insurgents, Egeland said, about half the previous estimate of 200,000 people trapped there.
Syrian state media said the army would abide by a “regime of calm” in the city that came into effect at 1am Thursday local time for 48 hours.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens had been killed on both sides in what it described as the most intense battle in the Aleppo region in a year.
Overnight on Tuesday, rebels looked to divert government forces by launching an assault on Aleppo’s western suburbs.
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Almost 300 people have been killed during this latest spate of violence in Aleppo.
