De Mistura has attempted to increase pressure on the United States and Russian Federation, the 17-nation task force’s co-chairs, to help produce a 48-hour ceasefire in the northern city of Aleppo in the face of a recent government offensive.
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He says Russian Federation was ready to support aid deliveries starting next week.
A Russian delegation told United Nations officials in Geneva it would support the humanitarian pauses from next week, a stance later announced by the Russian defence ministry on Twitter. “The EU supports the ISSG co-chairs and the UN Special Representative in their efforts to create the conditions for restarting intra-Syrian talks in Geneva as soon as possible”.
United Nations special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Thursday suspended the activities of his humanitarian task force, saying that continual fighting was preventing aid getting through to desperate civilians.
The office of Staffan de Mistura welcomes Russia’s readiness – expressed earlier on Thursday – to support a pause in fighting in the northern Syrian city, starting next week, so that humanitarian aid can get in. He cut short a humanitarian aid meeting Thursday after just eight minutes, saying it made “no sense” to continue plans for aid when humanitarian workers are not allowed in the devastated areas.
MOSCOW-Russia is ready to observe a 48-hour cease-fire to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo next week, military spokesman Maj. Russian Federation and the United States back opposite sides in the civil war.
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting a number of opposition factions and extremist groups. Up to two million people on both sides lack access to clean water after infrastructure was damaged in bombing.
Escalating violence there, where Russian Federation and Iran are supporting bombing campaigns against the rebels, some of whom are backed by Arab and Western powers, has caused the breakdown of Geneva peace talks overseen by de Mistura.
Otherwise, Haq said, “there’s no point in holding the talks”.
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In all, 16 patients in the town of Madaya and 15 in Foua and Kefraya await emergency medical evacuation, the World Health Organization representative in Damascus Elizabeth Hoff said.
