Since street protests broke out in 2011 during the “Arab spring”, Syria’s cities and deserts have turned into battlefields filled with Islamic State terrorists, Kurdish fighters, armed opposition groups of various stripes and military forces from Russia, Turkey, Iran and the US.
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U.N. Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura briefed the council meeting on Sunday.
“The burden is on Russian Federation to prove it is willing and able to take extraordinary steps to salvage diplomatic efforts”, read a joint statement from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and European Union.
US Ambassador Samantha Power said more than 150 air strikes had hit the city over the past 72 hours.
Amateur video from Aleppo showed multistory buildings that had collapsed under intense Russian and Syrian government airstrikes Saturday on the east side of the city.
In a statement Saturday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the “chilling military escalation in the city of Aleppo, which is facing the most sustained and intense bombardment since the start of the Syrian conflict”.
Warplanes have bombed a strategic camp on the northern edge of Aleppo, as Syrian government and rebel forces battle for control of the high ground.
The monitor said at least 17 children were among those killed in the assault, which has included missile strikes, barrel bomb attacks and artillery fire.
Rebels then launched a counter-offensive to try to retake the area, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
A September 9 ceasefire deal between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov aimed at putting Syria’s peace process back on track effectively collapsed on Monday when an aid convoy was bombed.
A 31-truck convoy was attacked on Monday night, killing around 20 civilians.
Western nations have been “too impotent” in the face of the deepening Syrian crisis, said Boris Johnson as he urged for tougher action against Russian Federation.
That same day, an aid convoy was hit by an air strike that U.S. officials have said was carried out by Russian planes, although Moscow has denied responsibility.
Johnson was speaking on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 on Sunday as the United Nations security council prepared to meet again to discuss the Russian-backed bombing of Aleppo. United States officials believe Russian aircraft were responsible for the strike, but Moscow has denied involvement. They are guilty of protracting this war and making it far more disgusting.
Johnson said the West had been “too impotent in its response” to aggression by Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Russian backers during Syria’s civil war, now in its sixth year.
The head of the rebel negotiating bloc, Riyadh Hijab, accused Russian Federation of a “genocide” in and around Aleppo, where Al Jazeera said at least 70 people were killed in bombardment on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Syrian rebels said late on Saturday they had regained control of Handarat, a former Palestinian refugee camp north of Aleppo city, after it had earlier fallen to government soldiers.
The foreign ministers of the United States, France, Germany, the UK and Italy, along with the High Representative of the European Union, released a statement late Saturday condemning the ongoing offensive on eastern Aleppo as “unacceptable”.
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At least 45 civilians were reportedly killed as heavy air raids shattered buildings on Saturday.
