US Secretary of State John Kerry responded with a call on Syria and Russian Federation to end aerial bombardment of eastern Aleppo, stating that there was “no chance” of peace without an end to military operations and coordination between the parties.
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A spokesman for the U.S. State Department dismissed Assad’s claims as “ridiculous”, adding that they underline that Assad has lost his legitimacy to govern.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said the strike was “an extraordinary display of American heavy-handedness” and accused the USA of purposefully derailing coordination efforts.
At the U.N., Assad’s other major supporter also rejected the US -led call for aircraft to be grounded.
Syrian President Bashar Assad blamed the United States for the deal’s failure in an AP interview earlier this week, citing US inability to control “terrorist” groups and a weekend attack that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers.
“Today we are sending an inter-agency, cross-line convoy with urgently needed aid to people in a besieged area of rural Damascus”, United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) spokesman Jens Laerke said in a statement.
A senior official in the Levant Front, an Aleppo-based rebel group, told Reuters: “The Russians only want surrender. We accepted. But the next morning they said, ‘Thank you very much, but we now need seven'”. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the issue publicly and spoke anonymously.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military on the reports, or mention of Aleppo air strikes on state media.
A mistaken attack by coalition airpower that killed dozens of Syrian troops, as well as fresh airstrikes in Aleppo and Idlib, have.
Wednesday’s toll was even higher, the activist said, with least 50 people being killed and others injured after Syrian forces struck nearly every neighborhood in eastern Aleppo and in the countryside.
He made no reference to possible progress after talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier in the day. Then, four medics were killed in a bombing raid, presumably by Syria or Russian Federation. The council’s nations all sought to revive the U.S.
Diplomatic efforts to end Syria’s complex war were set to continue in NY with a new meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) on Thursday.
German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined that the delivery of humanitarian should not be halted and wants the USA to protect aid convoys in Syria following a meeting with the Russian president in Moscow.
The U.S. -Russian counterterror partnership quickly disappeared from the table.
The International Syria Support Group, including Moscow, Washington and other major powers, met on the sidelines of the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders in NY.
Mr Lavrov laid the blame on the U.S. for failing to control the rebel groups it backs.
Going beyond the September 9 cease-fire deal is “senseless” unless USA -backed forces separate from agreed terrorist groups like the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, he said Friday.
But he said the United States needs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and his chief ally, Russia, to “do their part”.
Activists said both Syrian and Russian warplanes were taking part in the offensive, though Russia has not confirmed its involvement. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem thanked Russian Federation for its help “in the fight against terrorism”.
Staffan de Mistura, the UN Syria envoy, called the meeting “long, painful, difficult, and disappointing”.
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The war has killed as many as a half-million people, contributed to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II, and allowed the Islamic State group to emerge as a global terror threat.
