Instead, the fire that tore through the convoy happened “strangely at the same time insurgents were carrying out a large-scale attack on Aleppo”, defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
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Moscow later released drone footage it said showed a vehicle towing a mortar next to the aid convoy, and the Russian military has also claimed a US-led coalition Predator drone was above the area of the convoy attack – a claim the Pentagon quickly denied.
Monday’s attack on the aid convoy, which the Syrian Red Crescent says killed the head of its local office and around 20 other people, brought furious global condemnation.
“But, put it this way, when you look at what happened to the aid convoy, there are only two possible culprits, only two forces that are capable of having carried out that strike flying in that area – they are the Syrians and the Russians, and we have our doubts about the Syrian capability to fly at night”, he added.
The “clearly marked” United Nations convoy will cross conflict lines after security was reviewed following an attack on Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid trucks on Tuesday that killed 20 civilians and a staff member.
A USA official told AFP that Washington believes Russian aircraft carried out the strike and that there were two Su-24 jets operating in the area at the time. Russian Federation denies the claim and said a coalition drone was in the area when the aid trucks were destroyed, which the Pentagon fiercely rejected.
Convoys have repeatedly been blocked for security reasons, refusals by the Syrian government to grant authorisation and strict conditions imposed by opposition groups.
The US has blamed the airstrike on the convoy, which came amid other strikes in and around Aleppo by the Syrian regime, on Syrian government or Russian forces. Syria’s rebels do not have aircraft.
Their face-to-face meeting in NY was their first since Mr Johnson was appointed, and came days after talks between Theresa May and Moscow over Russian president Vladimir Putin’s support for Bashar Assad’s Syrian regime.
“The ceasefire is not dead”, Kerry said after the meeting, which he hosted with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Air strikes have reportedly killed at least a dozen people, including four medical workers.
Lavrov told a United Nations Security Council briefing on Syria that the ceasefire brokered would only work if there was a comprehensive approach with simultaneous steps taken by all parties involved in the war.
There has been furious worldwide condemnation.
The United Nations announced Wednesday its aid convoy is ready to move forward with deliveries inside Syria after it was suspended following a deadly attack two days ago.
In response to questions about the suffering of the people of Aleppo, he said: “We can not say “the people of Aleppo” because the majority live under the control of the government”. They suggested at one point the convoy was accompanied by an armed opposition vehicle, and most recently suggested the strike might actually have been carried out by a USA drone flying in the region.
Calling for a no-fly zone has always been a proposed to help resolve the Syrian civil war, now in its sixth year. “All information on the convoy’s location (after that) was known only to the rebels controlling this area”, he said.
In what was perhaps the main new suggested action from the meeting Mr Kerry proposed that aircraft in conflict zones be grounded as a way of restoring credibility to the damaged ceasefire process. The Obama administration has blamed Russian Federation either way, because of Moscow’s continued influence over the Syrian government in the war.
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Elizabeth Hoff, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Syria, told Reuters it was preparing medical supplies for delivery on Thursday to the Damascus suburb of Moadamiya subject to the normal security risk assessments.
