Turkish, Russian leaders discuss Aleppo truce

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations acknowledges that diplomacy has failed the people of Aleppo – but says Russian Federation is largely at fault for blocking humanitarian aid and cease-fire efforts.

The Syrian government and its ally Russian Federation have rejected a cease-fire for the war-torn city, keeping up the military offensive amid rebel retreats and massive displacement of Aleppo civilians.

US Secretary of State John Kerry was to hold fresh talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Hamburg, Germany, later on Wednesday on efforts to halt the fighting.

Opposition fighters have rejected talk of leaving Aleppo, and Assad’s government has said it will not agree to any ceasefire without a full rebel withdrawal.

Women walk near damaged buildings in rebel-held besieged old Aleppo, Syria December 2, 2016.

He was speaking after a fierce three-week offensive in which government forces seized about 80% of east Aleppo, a stronghold for rebel groups since 2012.

Government forces, backed by Russia, Iran and paramilitary allies, have retaken most of Aleppo, formerly held by Western- and Gulf-backed opposition groups seeking to overthrow Assad in the conflict that has lasted more than five years.

Media correspondents also reported that they notice gunfire and explosions have been greatly reduced, save for some echoing blasts that indicate that the fighting has not completely ceased. Eleven patients had died from lack of medication or been killed in crossfire before ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent teams could reach them, it said.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a potential US-Russia deal to allow Syrian rebels to leave Aleppo safely was still on the agenda.

Many people have streamed from areas rebels have left and are crammed into abandoned homes while air raids and shellfire fall around them, hoping to escape before Aleppo is retaken.

The increasingly cornered opposition factions are calling for an immediate five-day humanitarian ceasefire, and the United States, Britain and France have also called for a truce, warning of a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

In comments published Thursday in the state-owned al-Watan newspaper, Assad in said he would no longer consider truce offers, adding that such proposals, particularly by the Americans, often come when the rebels are in a “difficult spot”.

“Syria confirms that it will not leave its citizens in east Aleppo hostage to the terrorists”, said a statement issued Wednesday by the country’s Foreign Ministry, employing the government’s term for the rebels.

On Wednesday night, rebels withdrew from the Old Aleppo district as Syrian army and Hezbollah fighters tightened the noose and appeared to surround them.

The United States lately said it was not participating in the Geneva talks on Syria, which were set to take place on Tuesday between USA and Russian experts. “It must have been terrifying for them”, she said.

“The decision to liberate all of Syria has been taken, and that includes Aleppo”, he said.

On Thursday, opposition activists said intensive bombings took place in al-Sukkari and Kallaseh neighborhoods in the area still held by rebels. “It does not end until all terrorists have been completely eliminated. and we will continue the war against them”.

The district of Al-Shaar, cleared on Tuesday to enable the army’s assault on the Old City, is now in utter ruin.

Almost 150 civilians, most with disabilities or in need of medical care, have been evacuated from a hospital in Aleppo’s Old City overnight. “What more could we want?” he added.