Russian official: Russia, US near deal on Aleppo cease-fire

A Syrian military source has denied any arrests but said the identities of people leaving rebel-held areas were being checked and that anyone who was unknown was being put into “specific places” in areas where civilians were gathered.

Rebels are estimated to have lost 75-80 percent of the territory they once controlled in Aleppo since mid-November. His comments came as government troops and allied militias kept up their advances south of Aleppo’s ancient quarters.

Russia’s announcement comes at a time when tens of thousands of civilians have already been fleeing the fighting on their own, using whatever route they can. Aleppo shakes with explosions and gunfire day and night in.

The move is to allow for the evacuation of civilians trapped in the battle zone.

“We condemn the actions of the Syrian regime and its foreign backers, especially Russian Federation, for their obstruction of humanitarian aid”, the leaders said, adding that hospitals and schools appeared to have been targeted “in an attempt to wear people down”.

Lavrov and Kerry met in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday.

The rebels have called for an immediate five-day ceasefire and the evacuation of civilians and wounded, but have so far given no indication they are ready to withdraw.

The UN assessment for diplomacy was bleak. Referring to the theme of national reconciliation, the leader said that it is a real and practical solution, with negative and positive issues, but it is the only one available in parallel with the military offensive against terrorists and has proven to be effective over the last two or three years. Five months of talks over aid plans had all failed and produced “nothing”.

Their talks were held on the margins of a meeting of the 57-member Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The UN has said the remaining rebel-held areas, where food supplies are exhausted and there are no functioning hospitals, may hold 8,000 fighters among more than 100,000 civilians.

On its part, Russia said on Wednesday that the idea of a US-Russian agreement entailing a safe exit for armed Syrian opposition fighters is still “on the agenda”.

They discussed “ongoing multilateral efforts” to end the fighting in the city, State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

Syrian State TV showed footage Wednesday of hundreds of men, women and children trickling out of the Bab al-Nairab neighborhood, which lies south of the old city of Aleppo and had been held by rebels.

On Wednesday, the Russian military reported that one of its advisors had died from rebel shelling in Aleppo.

Around 400 civilians have been killed in east Aleppo during the offensive, while rebel fire into the west has killed another 100 people, the Observatory has said.

Aleppo was once known as the beating heart of culture and commerce in Syria, but the outbreak of fighting there four years ago left it divided between rebels in the east and government forces in the west.

AFP correspondents in the city said rebel areas were facing intense bombardment. “When we hear that Mr. Trump is going to cancel the nuclear deal with Iran, the deal through which Iran has managed to control Syria, it means that Iran’s right to kill Syrians will be canceled too”, Syrian Air Force Brig. “But it will be a huge step towards this end”.

Ali Yalçın, who heads Turkey’s largest civil servants’ union Memur-Sen, also announced that on December 14 they will start another fund drive to send a large humanitarian aid convoy to Aleppo. Columns of smoke were seen rising from rebel-held areas. “W$3 e’ re just not at a point yet where we can say that getting together to have these talks would be constructive”. Western countries say Assad’s harsh war tactics feed the anger that allowed Islamic State to grow.

On Thursday, the head of Britain’s foreign spy agency accused Russian Federation and Syria of turning Aleppo “into a desert and call it peace”.