Lavrov: Kerry finally presented proposals on Aleppo in
line with Russia’s stance
Published time: 3 Dec, 2016 11:06Edited time: 3 Dec,
2016 14:47
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R)
attend a bilateral meeting in Rome, Italy December 2, 2016. © Gregorio Borgia / Reuters
At a meeting in Rome, US Secretary of State John Kerry
made suggestions on Aleppo in line with those of Russian experts, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Russia is ready to immediately send military officials
and diplomats to Geneva to work out a joint plan of action for Aleppo in line
with US proposals, Lavrov said, as quoted by Russian news agencies.
“Moscow is
ready to immediately send our military experts and diplomats to Geneva to work
out joint actions with our US colleagues in line with the [new] American
proposals, which would ensure the withdrawal of all militants without exception
from eastern Aleppo, and would provide unimpeded humanitarian supplies to the
city’s residents and ensure the establishment of normal life in eastern
Aleppo,” Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday.
Until Friday, the United States had been doing its best
to try to “push provisions that would take the heat off Al-Nusra, which
directs the militants in the unliberated parts of eastern Aleppo,” Lavrov
noted, while adding, “however, yesterday at our meeting in Rome, John
Kerry passed on to us proposals from Washington that are in line with the
suggestions from Russia’s experts.”
“It must not be a meeting for the sake of a meeting,” Lavrov added. “It is necessary to agree
on a detailed timeline of steps.”
Moscow hopes to resolve the situation in Aleppo by the
end of the year, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on
Wednesday. “We need to force these terrorists out the same way as they
need to be forced out of Mosul and Raqqa. It’s a common task,” Bogdanov
stressed, as quoted by RIA news agency.
The US, and especially the Obama administration, is
looking for a way out in “political deniability,” because the
Syrian army is clearly winning in Aleppo, Catherine Shakdam, director of
programs at the Shafaqna Institute of Middle Eastern studies, told RT.
“Clearly, the Russian stance in regards to terror and
ISIS [Islamic State, formerly ISIL] and the rise of radicalism in Syria was
right, and the assessment that Russia made was right on the money,” she said.
According to Shakdam, the US is trying to show that it
is on the “right side of history”.
“The US is looking for the way out, to pretend to want
peace, to want democracy, and to be trying to fight for the greater good, which
we know it’s not,” she
added.
Damascus’ military operation in eastern Aleppo is in
full swing, with scores of civilians flooding into government-controlled parts
of the city from rebel-held areas. On Tuesday, Russian Defense Ministry
spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov called the advances made by the Syrian
army this week “a radical breakthrough.” The Russian Defense
Ministry reported that over 40 percent of the territory previously controlled
by the terrorists and rebel militants in eastern Aleppo has now been freed,
liberating over 80,000 Syrians who have been suffering from food shortages and
a lack of adequate medical care.
Terrorists groups such as Al-Nusra Front have gone to
great lengths to prevent civilians from leaving via humanitarian corridors,
shooting at them if they attempt to flee and threatening those remaining with
execution should they try.
In early October, Washington said it was suspending
bilateral cooperation with Moscow, which was aimed at sustaining a ceasefire in
Syria agreed upon on September 9, after months of negotiations. The US
claimed that it had cut off the contacts because Russia hadn’t delivered on a
promise to make the Syrian army suspend its military campaign and provide
humanitarian access to besieged areas.
The ceasefire suffered a major blow on September 17,
when US-led coalition planes struck Syrian military near the town of Deir
ez-Zor, killing 83 soldiers.
Several days later, a humanitarian aid convoy on its
way to Aleppo was attacked. Moscow has blamed the terrorists on the ground for
the incident, while Washington has accused the Syrian government and Moscow.
Russia said cooperation between Moscow and Washington
was shattered by those in Washington seeking to settle the Syrian crisis by
force. Moscow has repeatedly condemned Washington for failing to separate the
so-called “moderate” Syrian opposition, who they support, from
terrorists, as was stipulated in September’s ceasefire agreement.
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