Activists say IS push killed 49 Syrian soldiers

Syria’s government has said it will not agree to any ceasefire in Aleppo without a guarantee of a full rebel withdrawal.

Lavrov and U.S. officials are set to meet in Geneva on Saturday to discuss “militants’ pullout from Aleppo”, according to Russian state media.

Russian Federation claimed that the Syrian military ceased fighting late Thursday as a result of a negotiation with the U.S.to allow rebels to evacuate the city, effectively surrendering it to Syrian government forces.

In an interview with Syrian al-Watan newspaper Thursday, President Bashar al-Assad rejected the offer of a humanitarian ceasefire by the rebel opposition as his army tightened the noose on rebel-held part of the key city, according to Syrian state media.

Regime forces scored another important victory on Wednesday when the rebels retreated from the Old City, the historic heart of Aleppo, said the Observatory, a Britain-based monitor.

Relatives reported losing contact with the men, who are between the ages of 30 and 50, after they fled opposition-held areas about a week to 10 days ago, said United Nations spokesman Rupert Colville.

They say clashes are underway on Thursday along the fast-moving front line.

Meanwhile on Friday, the 193-member U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution demanding an immediate end to attacks on civilians and all besieged areas in war-torn Syria including Aleppo.

This comes as the Syrian government forces have been on a crushing offensive against the rebels in eastern Aleppo, capturing over 85 percent of neighborhoods that had been stormed by the rebels in 2012.

The Syrian Civil Defense in Aleppo says it was able to record 38 killed in Wednesday’s violence.

In an emotional statement, the head of the eastern Aleppo medical authority called for an immediate ceasefire, saying that the city was “finished”. He questioned whether the Obama administration had leverage over the rebel faction and said Turkey might be a more promising interlocutor.

Russian Federation said the Syrian army was suspending combat operations in Aleppo late Thursday to allow for the evacuation of civilians from besieged rebel-held neighborhoods, but residents and fighters reported no let-up in the bombing and shelling campaign on the opposition’s ever-shrinking enclave.

But it does not include those who had fled south to remaining rebel-held territory, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Syrian troops and aid groups have been helping to evacuate residents from newly retaken areas of east Aleppo, where civilians lived for months under heavy bombardment and a regime siege.

“What we have seen most recently in eastern Aleppo, that is really heartbreaking”. “Let’s be realistic – it won’t mean the end of the war in Syria”, he said.

Western countries have backed the call, and Kerry and Lavrov held talks on Thursday for a second straight day in an effort to halt the bloodshed. If Aleppo — Syria’s former commercial hub — is captured by government troops, it would be a turning point in the conflict, putting the four largest cities in Syria and the coastal region back under state control.

The Syrian government’s “refusal to engage in a serious political process also highlights the unwillingness of both Russian Federation and Iran to work for a political solution despite their assurances to the contrary”, the leaders said.