Responding to questions, Mr.de Mistura said Russian Federation and the United States have a genuine intention of finding a non-military solution, but a 48-hour pause in Aleppo would require some heavy lifting ” from not only the two co-chairs, but from those who have influence on fighting on the ground.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said it supports de Mistura proposal.
“Our plan is to collectively work out the operational details, and be ready for delivery as soon as possible”, he said in a statement.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, also called for an immediate halt to fighting in Aleppo to allow for medical evacuations, aid deliveries and necessary repairs to water and electricity infrastructure.
OPINION: Syria’s Civil War – Yet another “iconic image”?
Aleppo, Syria’s most populous pre-war city and its commercial hub, has become the focus of fighting in the five-year-old civil war.
Russian Federation last week declared it would hold three-hour pause in artillery fire and airstrikes daily around the ravaged Syrian city but the United Nations decried this as insufficient to help the approximately 1.5 million people in Aleppo.
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.
The American roadmap to end the war includes a national ceasefire, opening up of humanitarian aid, and the resumption of political negotiations between the Syrian regime and opposition in Geneva.
In this frame grab taken from video provided by the Syrian anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC), a child sits in an ambulance after being pulled out or a building hit by an airstirke, in Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016.
Rebel-held Madaya near Damascus is under siege by government forces and their allies, and government-held Foua in northern Idlib province, is besieged by opposition fighters.
Rebel-held areas are suffering heavy air strikes daily as progovernment forces try to retake territory lost to rebels two weeks ago in the southwest of Aleppo.
The boy sits alone, stunned, before two more children are brought into the vehicle.
Also Friday, SDF official Nasser Haj Mansour told The Associated Press that fighting erupted again and was underway in several neighborhoods of the city.
Advertisement
Since the image’s release, the photo has reverberated around the globe, much like that of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, whose body washed ashore on a Turkish beach a year ago.
