Syria peace deal brokered by the United States and Russian Federation has been at stake as diplomatic tensions mounted between Washington and Moscow.
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Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow wanted a UN Security Council resolution endorsing the deal.
How effective has the Syria ceasefire been?
France and other United States allies have publicly stated they want more details.
“Are we disappointed? Of course, we are”, di Mistura added.
However, the Syrian government has not provided needed “facilitation letters”, or permits, to allow for the start of the convoys, de Mistura said.
If the truce, which began on Monday, lasts seven days and humanitarian access is granted, Russian Federation and the USA are to work together to target jihadists including the extremist Islamic State group (IS) and former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front.
Two aid convoys destined for Aleppo were still stuck on the Turkish border after several days while the sides argued over how the supplies were to be delivered.
Insurgents have expressed doubt over the viability of the deal from the beginning.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said in an interview with the RIA Novosti news that Assad’s future is “purely Syrian business”.
The ministry’s website said the footage would “provide transparency of ceasefire regime implementation in the Syrian Arab Republic by the sides”.
Moscow said Friday that it was ready to prolong the truce by 72 hours, but there has been no formal announcement of an extension.
The Kremlin said on Friday it was using its influence to try to ensure the Syrian army fully implemented a shaky ceasefire agreement and that it hoped the United States would use its own influence with rebel groups too.
It aims to halt fighting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and rebel factions, but does not include jihadists like the Islamic State group (IS).
But the army later drove the rebels out of al-Ramouseh. A Syrian military official, however, told French news agency AFP that rebels drew the army response by attempting to push westward into Damascus from Jobar.
Fighting between government troops and rebels was concentrated in the neighbourhood of Jobar, next to Qaboun, where rebels, including Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, have had a presence for years, according to the SOHR. The Russians accused rebels of violating the cease-fire and Konashenkov said that “only the Syrian military is observing the truce”.
United Nations officials said they were awaiting word from Russian Federation and Syrian combatants on both sides that security and monitoring are in place to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid into rebel-held parts of Aleppo city.
Rebel-held eastern Aleppo is in desperate need of humanitarian aid after weeks of heavy fighting, and a government siege that has lasted most of the past two months, with no aid entering since early July.
But on Friday, the trucks were still waiting at the border with Turkey, said David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“As humanitarians this is immensely frustrating”.
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“The trucks are ready and sealed, and the agreement is that once they move they will not be harassed and they will not be investigated and they will be moving along that road”, De Mistura said.
