EU Slams Russia as Putin Offers to Extend Aleppo Ceasefire

French President Demands Unconditional End to Airstrikes

by Jason Ditz,

Russia’s eight hour ceasefire in Aleppo came and went, and was extended to an 11 hour truce. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to an even longer ceasefire, so long as the rebels inside eastern Aleppo don’t attack the Syrian government installations around the area.

The comments came after meetings in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, who weren’t in a compromising mood, and instead condemned Putin out of hand, and demanded unconditional and total suspension of airstrikes against Aleppo.

The current Russian ceasefire is a unilateral one, aimed at allowing civilians to leave Aleppo, and was initially also hoped to allow some aid into the city, though the UN has since dismissed that idea, saying that the Russian ceasefire wasn’t particularly useful for aid deliveries since they didn’t have guarantees from the rebels.

Aleppo has been contested militarily by several factions since 2012, and is now held by the Syrian military and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. The two sides have been fighting over the city for months, and the military has been in the advantage recently, aiming to take more territory.

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/10/19/eu-slams-russia-as-putin-offers-to-extend-aleppo-ceasefire/