Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he remained “more positive than negative” over the ceasefire, although in comments delivered in Kyrgyzstan he cast doubt on Washington’s commitment to the deal, saying it was “deviating” from its own call for openness and had been unable to split moderate from “semi-criminal” rebels.
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The closed-door consultations were scrapped after Moscow and Washington failed to agree over disclosing details of the ceasefire to the council.
The ceasefire is the result of an agreement between Russian Federation, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with air power, and the United States, which supports some rebel groups. President Bashar Assad’s government views all those fighting against it as “terrorists”, and has long accused the USA and other rebel supporters of backing extremists.
The council had been due to discuss whether to endorse the truce. “There is doubt that the U.S. is able to influence the moderate opposition they control”.
Meanwhile, a senior Russian military official said Moscow would help ensure the cease-fire in Syria for another three days, but warned the United States to press the rebels to end violations of the truce.
The implementation of the truce has been complicated by the presence of jihadists – who are not covered by the ceasefire – and mainstream rebels on some of the same frontlines.
The agreement that Kerry and Lavrov reached last week calls for sustained delivery of humanitarian aid, along with a decrease in violence, as a requirement for the military cooperation to target Islamic State and al-Qaida-linked groups.
Two convoys of aid for Aleppo have been waiting at the Turkish border for days.
The Russian official pointed out that “the main priority of the Russian-American agreements of September was the division of territories controlled by IS (Islamic State, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Jabhat al-Nusra, and the areas controlled by the “moderate opposition, ‘ as well the separation of the ‘moderate opposition” from Jabhat al-Nusra”.
A spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has revealed that the regime of Bashar Al-Assad has blocked the passage of 40 aid trucks heading for the besieged city of Aleppo, Anadolu reported on Friday. The government said the road was being fired on by rebels, which they deny, so it could not give convoys a guarantee of safety.
AFP’s correspondent in Aleppo’s eastern districts said the city was calm on Saturday after a few rocket attacks overnight.
Fighting erupted overnight between rebel groups and pro-regime forces in the opposition-held suburb of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Air strikes hit several towns in the central province of Homs and also targeted rebel groups, including fighters from the Fateh al-Sham Front, in the coastal province of Latakia, according to the British-based monitor.
Syria’s military says the USA -led coalition carried out an airstrike on an eastern base that is surrounded by Islamic State militants, allowing the extremists to advance and potentially dealing a major blow to a shaky cease-fire.
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The Pentagon said Friday that dozens of US Special Operations Forces had been deployed to Syria’s border with Turkey to fight ISIS, at Ankara’s request, in support of Turkey’s army and “vetted” Syrian rebels.
