On Thursday, the Syrian army declared an offensive to fully capture Aleppo and warplanes bombed the city, Syria’s largest, with what residents described as unprecedented ferocity on Friday.
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Speaking in NY where he has been attending the United Nations, he urged the Russians to end the conflict by forcing their ally, Syrian president Bashar Assad, to the negotiating table.
A spokesman for the Nour el-Din el-Zinki rebel factions in the city says government forces have not been able to make any advances in the city in the last 24 hours.
“Nothing has happened and we will continue our consultations”, the minister said after a meeting of the International Syria Support Group in NY on September 22. “I do agree that Syrian regime aircraft and Russian aircraft should be grounded”.
He blamed unnamed other parties among the delegates for “undermining” the US-Russian initiative and added “they are still trying, so declaring it dead would be wrong”.
Ryabkov said the deal was the best possible option amid sharp disagreements over Syria, adding that Russian and US diplomats need to “calmly sit down and think what needs to be done to keep the agreement afloat”.
Kodmani said only a “credible threat of retaliation” would stop Assad’s warplanes.
At his briefing, Lavrov accused the opposition of having violated the truce hundreds of times while Western officials have blamed Russian Federation and Syria for its collapse.
But the president of Iran on Wednesday dismissed that idea, saying it would help Islamic State and the Nusra Front, al Qaeda’s Syrian branch, which changed its name in July and says it cut its ties to the network founded by Osama bin Laden. He added that the alleged bombing of the aid convoy raised “profound doubt whether Russian Federation and the Assad regime can or will live up to” ceasefire obligations.
Assad, in the interview conducted Wednesday, said the U.S.
The intensity of the bombardment, which included artillery barrages and barrel bombings by helicopters, brought new misery to the estimated 250,000 civilians besieged by the army.
“Kerry and Obama’s administration are going in circles. talking to the Russians, thinking that the Russians will have any solutions and can contribute to the ceasefire”.
“What is absolutely clear is that the Russians bear the moral responsibility for what is taking place”, he told Channel 4 News.
Recovering full control of Aleppo would be the most important victory of the war so far for President Bashar al-Assad, who has sought to consolidate his grip over the western cities where the overwhelming majority of Syrians lived before fighting drove half of the nation from its homes.
Homs governor Talal Barazi said 150 gunmen, some accompanied by their families, are expected to leave the al-Waer neighborhood as part of the settlement.
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Kodmani added: “I think if we say it’s a moment of truth, it’s a moment of truth for the worldwide community, the United States, its allies, the U.N. And it’s a tragic moment for the population of Aleppo”.
