The provision of aid to what was Syria’s largest city before the war is a critical test of the ceasefire, brokered by the United States and Russian Federation a week ago with the aim of reviving talks on ending the conflict.
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In New York, the United States and Russian Federation have called for a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the situation in Syria.
The closed-door consultations were scrapped after Moscow and Washington failed to agree on how disclose details of the ceasefire to the council.
John Kerry, the USA secretary of state, conveyed the message to Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, in a phone call.
Secretary of State John Kerry, who personally hammered out the agreement despite scepticism among some US administration colleagues, told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Washington would not start the agreed joint targeting of militants until aid arrives.
US President Barack Obama also voiced “deep concern” that the government continued to block humanitarian aid.
Air strikes and clashes tested a fragile ceasefire in Syria Friday as civilians waited for aid and the UN Security Council was to discuss whether to endorse the US-Russian truce.
The government and rebels have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, although the U.S. State Department said on Thursday it was largely holding and that both Washington and Moscow believed it was worth continuing.
Washington and Moscow, which support opposite sides in the conflict between President Bashar al-Assad and rebels trying to unseat him, have agreed to share targeting information against jihadist fighters that are their common enemies, if the truce holds.
“Although the ceasefire agreement is bilateral, only one side is truly implementing it”, Defence Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said in an interview with the RIA Novosti news that Assad’s future is “purely Syrian business”.
Syria and Russian Federation earlier said jets from a USA -led coalition had struck a Syrian army position near Deir al-Zor, killing scores and allowing Islamic State fighters to briefly overrun it.
The Security Council had been scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the agreement, but the session was cancelled at the last minute because the USA did not want to make the details public, according to Russian and US officials.
Three civilians, including two children, were killed in air raids on Friday on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in Idlib province, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The Pentagon admitted the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria may have struck Syrian military positions inside the country on Saturday after Russian Federation accused it of killing at least 62 Syrian troops.
He appeared to be referring to the Fatah al-Sham Front, an al-Qaida-linked group previously known as the Nusra Front, which is deeply embedded in rebel-held areas and fights alongside more moderate groups.
Opposition activists and state media are reporting clashes between troops and insurgents as well as shelling in two neighborhoods of the Syrian capital, Damascus.
“We call here on the Syrian government and friendly states to prevent the entry of any kind of aid to the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo before its passage to Fua and Kafarya”, the group said on its FaceBook page.
The Observatory said three rebel fighters and four members of the government forces were killed. The United Nations has described the truce as a “critical window of opportunity” to deliver aid to rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo city, where around 250,000 civilians are under siege.
The UN had hoped that 40 trucks of food – enough to feed 80,000 people for one month – could be delivered to besieged rebel-held eastern parts of Aleppo as soon as possible.
OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke says “it is my understanding” that United Nations officials are waiting for assurances that conditions are safe enough for two convoys of 20 trucks each to proceed from Turkey to eastern Aleppo.
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A ceasefire deal that went into force at sundown on Monday – meant to end hostilities and ensure aid deliveries – also calls for the demilitarisation of the Castello Road, the main route for humanitarian assistance into the divided Syrian city of Aleppo.
