Translated material
Russia suspended Aleppo strikes
From 10:00 Tuesday, Russian and Syrian aviation cease blows in the Aleppo area. As TASS reports , the defense minister Sergei Shoigu stated this. According to him, the early termination of air strikes is necessary for the introduction of a "humanitarian pause" on October 20.
Shoigu added that the Russian Ministry of Defense calls for countries that influence armed groups in East Aleppo, to convince their leaders to stop hostilities and leave the city.
Russian military specialists, the minister noted, arrived in Geneva. According to him, the Russian initiative to introduce a "humanitarian pause" should "contribute to success in the work of military experts of a number of states, which will begin in Geneva tomorrow." "This work will be aimed, first of all, to the separation of terrorists from the moderate opposition and their withdrawal from the eastern part of Aleppo," said Shoigu.
Earlier, at the end of the closed meeting of the Security Council, Vitaly Churkin, a constant representative of Russia at the UN, said that Russia unilaterally announced an eight -hour ceasefire in Aleppo. At the same time, the Permanent Representative noted that a longer “humanitarian pause” will require “some mutual agreements”.
From October 20, pauses in hostilities are introduced for the passage of civilians and the withdrawal of militants to the Idlib area. For this purpose, eight humanitarian corridors will be organized, six of which are intended for civilians.
On the eve of the Council of the European Union made a statement that states that the actions performed in Aleppo by the regime of Bashar al -Assad and its allies, especially Russia, can be qualified as war crimes. This is evidenced by bombing of civilian objects, the use of barrel and cassette bombs, chemical weapons, as well as contributing to the "catastrophic escalation" of the conflict.
Moscow, in particular, as a member of the International Syria support group, the EU Council called for the cessation of Aleppo bombing by the Assad troops, restore a violated truce, provide a humanitarian corridor, and create conditions for the transfer of power in Syria, deserving trust and ensuring the participation of all interested parties.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the head of the British Foreign Ministry Boris Johnson said the West is discussing the introduction of new economic sanctions against Russia in response to the continuing bombing of Aleppo. They made such a message based on the results of a 10-sided meeting in London. In addition to Kerry and Johnson, representatives of France, Germany, Italy, the European Union as a whole, as well as Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar participated.
Sanctions are supposed to be introduced against the Assad regime.
Kerry and Johnson expressed the hope that it would be possible to stop the bombing based on the results of negotiations with Russia. At the same time, they noticed that diplomatic methods should be reinforced with economic pressure.