AFP, Athans :
Russia seeks “honest cooperation” for a political solution in Syria – “the sooner the better”, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday as Moscow declared a brief truce in the war-ravaged city of Aleppo. “We hope our partners will draw the necessary conclusions [so that] we will all aim for honest cooperation … for a political process involving both the government and opposition forces,” Lavrov said at the start of an official visit to Greece. “We must come to an agreement, the sooner the better,” he said.
However, Lavrov insisted that Washington help enforce a November 2015 UN Security Council resolution condemning support for extremist groups in Syria. “When we adopted this resolution, I remember US Secretary of State John Kerry’s words. He said: ‘Whoever wants to be part of [the political] process must sever links to terrorists’,” Lavrov said through a translator. “Almost a year has passed and we await these words to be carried out,” he added.
Russia has accused the US-led coalition of failing to rein in hard-line Syrian rebels, warning that the chances of a political settlement to the crisis were now remote. “The United States are a great power, but that does not mean that everyone else must play by America’s terms,” Lavrov said. “If they follow this policy we will not be able to do anything in the world.”
In turn, the West has accused Moscow of committing possible war crimes in Aleppo through indiscriminate bombing to support a brutal Syrian government offensive. Moscow has been conducting a bombing campaign in Syria in support of long-time ally Bashar al-Assad since September 2015.
More than 300,000 people have been killed since Syria’s war devolved from a widespread protest movement against Assad’s rule in March 2011 to a multi-front war between rebels, militants, Kurds and regime forces.
Meanwhile, Russia and the Syrian army on Wednesday told anti-government rebels in Aleppo to leave by Friday evening, signaling an extended moratorium on air strikes in the city.
The Russian Defence Ministry, which is helping forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad to retake full control of Aleppo, said rebels would be allowed to exit the city unharmed and with their weapons between 0900 and 1900 local time on Nov. 4 via two special corridors.
Civilians and the sick and wounded would be allowed to leave via six other corridors, it said.
The Syrian army released a similar statement later in the day calling on rebel fighters to cease fire and to “use this opportunity” to leave the city with their small arms.
Rebels rejected the calls, an official in an Aleppo-based insurgent group said.
“This is completely out of the question. We will not give up the city of Aleppo to the Russians and we won’t surrender,” Zakaria Malahifji of the Fastaqim rebel group told Reuters.
He denied there were corridors guaranteeing safe passage and said civilians did not trust the government side.
Russia seeks “honest cooperation” for a political solution in Syria – “the sooner the better”, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday as Moscow declared a brief truce in the war-ravaged city of Aleppo. “We hope our partners will draw the necessary conclusions [so that] we will all aim for honest cooperation … for a political process involving both the government and opposition forces,” Lavrov said at the start of an official visit to Greece. “We must come to an agreement, the sooner the better,” he said.
However, Lavrov insisted that Washington help enforce a November 2015 UN Security Council resolution condemning support for extremist groups in Syria. “When we adopted this resolution, I remember US Secretary of State John Kerry’s words. He said: ‘Whoever wants to be part of [the political] process must sever links to terrorists’,” Lavrov said through a translator. “Almost a year has passed and we await these words to be carried out,” he added.
Russia has accused the US-led coalition of failing to rein in hard-line Syrian rebels, warning that the chances of a political settlement to the crisis were now remote. “The United States are a great power, but that does not mean that everyone else must play by America’s terms,” Lavrov said. “If they follow this policy we will not be able to do anything in the world.”
In turn, the West has accused Moscow of committing possible war crimes in Aleppo through indiscriminate bombing to support a brutal Syrian government offensive. Moscow has been conducting a bombing campaign in Syria in support of long-time ally Bashar al-Assad since September 2015.
More than 300,000 people have been killed since Syria’s war devolved from a widespread protest movement against Assad’s rule in March 2011 to a multi-front war between rebels, militants, Kurds and regime forces.
Meanwhile, Russia and the Syrian army on Wednesday told anti-government rebels in Aleppo to leave by Friday evening, signaling an extended moratorium on air strikes in the city.
The Russian Defence Ministry, which is helping forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad to retake full control of Aleppo, said rebels would be allowed to exit the city unharmed and with their weapons between 0900 and 1900 local time on Nov. 4 via two special corridors.
Civilians and the sick and wounded would be allowed to leave via six other corridors, it said.
The Syrian army released a similar statement later in the day calling on rebel fighters to cease fire and to “use this opportunity” to leave the city with their small arms.
Rebels rejected the calls, an official in an Aleppo-based insurgent group said.
“This is completely out of the question. We will not give up the city of Aleppo to the Russians and we won’t surrender,” Zakaria Malahifji of the Fastaqim rebel group told Reuters.
He denied there were corridors guaranteeing safe passage and said civilians did not trust the government side.
