The U.S. Department of State said Wednesday that Russian Federation has taken no “demonstrable steps” to support efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to besieged towns in Syria even though it has air assets in the country along with permission to use them.
Advertisement
Russian, Iranian and Syrian defense ministers will be meeting on Thursday to take stock of the “latest regional developments” and discuss “strategies to strengthen and extend the battle against terrorism”, reported the Mehr news agency on Wednesday. “At the same time, I want to underline the great urgency of the deadline of early August set by the co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group”, Ban said.
“We are, as you know, very actively constantly monitoring the aspect of detainees and those who are being abducted [in Syria], but we did get the information today from one main source, but we would like to have more information, that some substantial number of fighters appear to have been released … we are talking about thousands and thousands”, de Mistura said during a press conference.
Even if Assad allows the aid in, Toner said, the US calls on him to allow all humanitarian assistance to reach all besieged areas as designated by the United Nations, and not the “areas that the regime deems are allowable”.
Since September 30, 2015, Russian Federation has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria at the Syrian government’s request. But he added, “They’re aware of our concerns”.
“They are on the ground with air assets in Syria and are able to carry out these kinds of operations”, he said.
Foreign capitals have asked the World Food Program to plan an air bridge to save thousands of Syrian civilians facing starvation in communities besieged by Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Advertisement
Asked about Assad’s pledge this week to continue fighting until he had won back “every inch” of Syrian territory, Toner said the Syrian leader was “sadly mistaken if he thinks there’s a military solution”.
