The U.N. has accused Assad’s government of obstructing aid access to the contested city.
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The lack of permission was “a very major disappointment” even for Syria’s ally Russia, Mr de Mistura said.
The cease-fire that went into effect Monday is part of a U.S. -Russia agreement that also calls for allowing humanitarian aid to reach besieged areas in Aleppo.
The Syrian government has not provided the “facilitation letters” or permits needed to allow the start of the convoys, Mr de Mistura said. “Can well-fed, grown men please stop putting political, bureaucratic and procedural roadblocks for courageous humanitarian workers who are willing and able to go to serve women, children, wounded civilians in besieged and crossfire areas”.
De Mistura said 40 aid trucks are ready to move and that the United Nations would prioritize delivery to the embattled, rebel-held eastern neighborhoods of the northern city of Aleppo.
He said he hoped aid could go to Aleppo on Friday, but first all fighting forces had to disengage from the Castello Road supply route.
The ceasefire was a coordinated effort between Russian Federation, who backs the Syrian government regime of Bashar al-Assad, and the United States, who back the myriad group of rebel organizations seeking to force Assad out of power. -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.
“The reason we’re not in eastern Aleppo has again been a combination of very hard and detailed discussions around security monitoring and passage of roadblocks, which is both opposition and government”, he said.
The ceasefire deal, meant to bring humanitarian relief, calls for a halt to the violence between the Syrian regime and rebel forces.
Russian Federation on Thursday also called for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution endorsing the ceasefire deal.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday the United States was not fulfilling its obligations under the Syrian ceasefire agreement, as Moscow and Washington pointed fingers at each other for violating what had appeared to be a peaceful lull in fighting.
“The Russians were as disappointed as we are” and called for quick action on the matter, he said at the end of a meeting of the Geneva-based humanitarian task force monitoring developments.
“Our appeal is the following-it’s a simple one”, Jan Egeland, the top humanitarian aid official in de Mistura’s office, told the AP.
The stated goal of the Syrian ceasefire negotiations was to allow the United Nations to coordinate humanitarian aid to Syrian citizens in Aleppo and elsewhere who have been displaced by the ongoing conflict.
But hours later Russian military spokesman Igor Konashenkov slammed the USA for what he called “rhetorical fog” intended “to hide the fact that it is not fulfilling its part of the obligations”.
Earlier Thursday, activists said the cease-fire was still holding despite some violations.
Under the deal, the United States and Russian Federation will set up a joint implementation centre to cooperate in the targeting of rebels considered “terrorist” by both sides. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian army later recaptured most of the positions it lost to IS.
The Syrian Army has begun a staged withdrawal of troops and vehicles from the Castello road, RIA news agency cited Lieutenant-General Vladimir Savchenko, head of the Russian Reconciliation Centre in Syria, as saying on Thursday.
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The Russia-US deal calls for the truce to be renewed every 48 hours, and for Washington and Moscow to begin unprecedented joint targeting of jihadists like ISIS and former al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front if it lasts a week. The report said two people guarding the location were wounded.
