Later in the day, a United Nations spokesperson in NY noted that Mr.de Mistura had since received communication from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, stating its readiness to support his proposal of a 48-hour humanitarian pause in Aleppo.
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Western bureaucrats were tired of the announcement and questioned the Moscow’s motives while insisting that the United Nations must be in charge of a sustained aid operation.
Russian bombers, meanwhile, launched a third day of air strikes against Islamic state militants in Syria’s Deir al-Zor province from an Iranian air base, the Russian defence ministry said yesterday.
The two sides have clashed before on several occasions but it was the first reported aerial bombardment of Kurdish positions in the city by the government.
That agreement broke down after US-backed extremist factions resumed their alliance with al-Qaida to attack government-held west Aleppo.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed Russia’s readiness to establish a 48-hour humanitarian pause in the Syrian city of Aleppo, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday.
De Mistura said the U.N. would also count on the United States and other backers of Syria’s armed opposition to ensure that it too adheres to the long-sought pause in fighting.
The shocked boy, a four-year-old named Omran, is pictured sitting in an ambulance covered in blood and dust after an air strike Wednesday in the rebel-held district of Qaterji in the southeast of Aleppo, which has been devastated by the five-year war.
Assad, backed by Russian Federation and Iran, has focused mostly on fighting Sunni Arab rebels who have been battling to oust him in western Syria with support from countries including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States. “This child is a representative of millions of children in Syria and its cities”.
While the YPG controls most of the northeast, the Syrian government has maintained footholds in the cities of Hasaka and Qamishli at the border with Turkey.
“Our plan is to collectively work out the operational details, and be ready for delivery as soon as possible”, de Mistura’s office said in a statement.
“We urgently need a 48 hour ceasefire this week as a first step to get injured children out of Aleppo and bring aid in”. While the rebel advance this month opened a narrow corridor into opposition-held areas of Aleppo, access remains very limited and risky, meaning aid supplies are scarce.
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Around 590,000 people are now living in besieged areas of Syria, according to United Nations figures.
