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UN Security Council to hold emergency session on Syria, diplomatic sources say

“This is something that is required to happen immediately”, de Mistura told reporters in Geneva.

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When asked if Saturday’s air strikes spelled the end of the deal, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said: “This is a very big question mark”.

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.

Putin also commented on Saturday on November’s USA presidential election, saying Moscow would support any person in any country who “is friendly to us”.

“It is particularly regrettable”.

Earlier on Saturday Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin would attend a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation in Peru in November, adding that US President Barack Obama was also expected to attend.

The cease-fire was supposed to pave the way for aid shipments into besieged rebel-held areas of Aleppo, but convoys have yet to enter.

“Our appeal is the following”, Egeland said.

“Can well-fed grown men please stop putting political, bureaucratic and procedural road blocks for courageous humanitarian workers that are willing to go to serve women, children, wounded civilians in besieged and crossfire areas?”

Citing the Deir Az Zor airport, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 80 Syrian soldiers died.

Mazen al-Shami, an opposition activist near Damascus, said government forces tried to storm Jobar but were repelled by opposition fighters. Another child died of wounds sustained earlier from sniper fire in al-Masharfeh, a government-held neighborhood in Aleppo city.

– 6:05 p.m. The Russian military says the Syrian government forces have pulled back from a key highway to the besieged city of Aleppo to allow for aid deliveries but that the opposition fighters have failed to do the same. The withdrawals will make way for the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to establish checkpoints on the road and direct aid convoys in. The Russian military also claimed that the Syrian opposition has used the truce to regroup and strengthen its forces.

BEIRUT (AP) – Aid convoys for Syria’s war-ravaged city of Aleppo were delayed Friday for the fourth day as the United States and Russian Federation, sponsors of a Syria cease-fire deal, traded accusations over who was to blame.

Castello Road has special status under the U.S. -Russia agreement and the United States and Russian Federation are expected to manage a demilitarization of the route, allowing new checkpoints to ensure the flow of aid, de Mistura said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry says Lavrov told Kerry that Russia has coordinated the aid delivery with Syrian government forces and called on Washington to exercise similar influence with Syrian rebels.

Fierce fighting between the Syrian army and ISIL fighters was now under way. SANA said the shelling violates the cease-fire.

Almost two dozen rockets and grenades were fired near Jobar neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, the observatory said, adding that two shells fell in the Old City, controlled by the government.

Kerry “emphasized that the United States expects Russian Federation to use its influence on the Assad regime to allow UN humanitarian convoys to reach Aleppo and other areas in need”, State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

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Konashenkov said Syrian authorities reported another 100 wounded.

Syria truce extended