MOSCOW // Russian and Syrian air forces stopped bombing Aleppo on Tuesday ahead of a temporary truce, a move the Kremlin said showed “goodwill” as it faces mounting criticism for backing a brutal regime offensive.
It came one day after Russia announced there would be an eight-hour “humanitarian pause” — from 8am to 4pm on Thursday — in the battered city.
“Strikes in the Aleppo region by the Russian and Syrian air forces are stopping today starting at 10am,” Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.
“This guarantees the security of civilians’ exit through six corridors and prepares the evacuation of the sick and injured from eastern Aleppo,” he said, adding that it would also guarantee safe passage for armed rebels to leave eastern Aleppo.
The decision was welcomed by the United Nations and the European Union which said the ceasefire needed to be longer to allow the delivery of aid.
The US state department, however, voiced scepticism over Moscow’s latest initiative but welcomed a halt in the bombing.
The West has expressed increasing alarm at the situation in Aleppo, saying the ferocious Russian-backed onslaught on the rebel-held east could amount to a war crime.
Leaders from France, Russia and Germany will be meeting on the Syrian crisis in Berlin on Wednesday, France has confirmed.
The meeting will be aimed at “giving the same message to Vladimir Putin on Syria: a durable ceasefire in Aleppo and humanitarian access so that the devastation of this city can end”, said an aide to French president Francois Hollande on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, experts from the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, Turkey and Jordan met in Geneva on Tuesday to coordinate efforts towards a new ceasefire in Syria.
They decided to form a working group to investigate how Jabhat Fateh Al Sham, a group that has claimed to have severed its links with Al Qaeda, from the moderate opposition forces.
During the truce, Russian and Syrian militaries will halt any offensive actions. Syrian rebels, including Al Qaeda militants, as well as the wounded and the sick will be allowed to leave for the neighbouring rebel-held province of Idlib.
The UN said on Tuesday it was waiting for safety assurances from all sides before going in with “critical humanitarian assistance” for Aleppo’s desperate population.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the halt was a “manifestation of goodwill” and denied it was meant to assuage western critics.
US state department spokesman John Kirby remained cautious, saying that “it’s a little too soon to tell how genuine this is and how long it’s going to last”.
“We’ve seen these kinds of commitments and promises before. And we’ve seen them broken. We’re watching this very carefully.”
Air strikes are still being conducted in the broader Aleppo region, the Britain-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday.
Over 250,000 people are under government siege in the city that was once Syria’s thriving commercial hub.
The halt in bombing came just hours after Russian warplanes pounded Aleppo’s rebel-held districts, killing a couple and their three children, the Observatory said.
On Monday, dozens of civilians including 12 members of the same family were killed in strikes against Aleppo, it said.
The brutal government offensive against eastern Aleppo — which has destroyed hospitals and other civilian infrastructure — has plunged Syria into some of the worst violence of the five-year war that has claimed over 300,000 lives.
The European Union said on Monday that the Russian and Syrian “deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, schools and essential infrastructure” could amount to war crimes.
EU foreign ministers also warned that the 28-nation bloc could impose additional sanctions against Damascus, but decided against targeting Russia despite US and British calls to punish Moscow as well.
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press