The government of President Bashar al-Assad is holding up deliveries of aid in violation of the deal struck last week by Russian Federation and the United States, the UN mediator for Syria has said.
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Aid deliveries are a key part of the U.S. -Russia deal that imposed the cease-fire that started Monday.
De Mistura said 40 aid trucks were ready to move and the United Nations would prioritize delivery to the embattled rebel-held eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo.
The UN Security Council has demanded that all parties to the conflict in Syria allow aid workers swift and safe access to people in need, and external actors, notably the United States and Russian Federation, should pressure the Syrian government to allow unhindered aid, particularly in areas hardest hit by the war.
The UN has accused the Syrian government of refusing to allow its aid deliveries into the stricken city.
Aside from the reducing the bloodshed, the “second dividend” of the U.S. -Russia deal is humanitarian access, de Mistura told reporters in Geneva.
Meanwhile, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the ceasefire was “by and large” holding steady despite complaints of violations, but urged the USA to do more to influence the rebel groups it supports in Syria.
“It is particularly regrettable”.
Fighting has broken out in the capital, Damascus, in what appeared to be a serious violation of the US-Russia brokered ceasefire.
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.
Russian Federation said Syrian government troops had begun to withdraw from Castello Road on the outskirts of Aleppo – the route through which the trucks will pass – on Thursday but this has not been independently confirmed.
There were also reports that both government forces and rebels had failed to withdraw from a road needed to deliver aid to residents trapped inside the flashpoint city of Aleppo. -Russian ceasefire agreement on Syria arguing that without it violence would increase significantly with many more Syrians slaughtered or forced to flee the war-torn country.
Not to be outdone, Washington pointed the finger right back at Moscow, accusing it of not holding up its end of the deal.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian conflict through contacts on the ground, said no deaths from fighting had been reported in the first 48 hours of the truce.
“We are not using this window of opportunity so far to reach all of these places with humanitarian assistance”, Egeland said.
Jan Egeland, a top United Nations coordinator of aid for Syria, said it is waiting for assurances on “monitoring arrangements”.
Initially, the deal allows the Syrian air force to continue strikes in areas where IS and Fateh al-Sham, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, are present.
Syrian opposition activists have said an airstrike on the eastern town of Mayadeen, held by the Islamic State group, has killed at least four people and wounded dozens.
In addition, it remained unclear if any of the armed groups, including the Syrian military, withdrew from the main road into East Aleppo.
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Moscow wants the U.N. Security Council to endorse the agreement when it meets next Wednesday, according to Ambassador Vitaly Churkin. “I think we need to adopt it on the 21st”.
