US rejects Russian claim that it is stalling

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday rejected Russian charges Washington was stalling talks on the opposition withdrawal from the Syrian city of Aleppo in order to buy them time.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday rejected Russian charges Washington was stalling talks on an opposition withdrawal from the Syrian city of Aleppo in order to buy them time.
“I’m not aware of any specific refusal,” Kerry said when asked about Moscow’s charges as he attended a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.
Russia’s top diplomat on Tuesday accused Washington of backtracking on planned talks in Geneva over an opposition pullout from Syria’s Aleppo to “buy time” for those battling leader Bashar Assad.
“It looks like an attempt to buy time for the opposition to have a breather, take a pause and replenish their reserves,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists, saying Moscow had the impression “a serious discussion with our American partners isn’t working out.”
Lavrov on Monday said that Russian and US experts were to meet in Switzerland on either Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss a proposal put forward by US Secretary of State John Kerry last week on a complete opposition withdrawal from the war-torn eastern sector of Syria’s second city. But on Tuesday he acknowledged that Washington had said it would not take part in Wednesday’s talks and had withdrawn the suggestions made by Kerry.
The opposition in east Aleppo has already dismissed any talk of them withdrawing, but Lavrov said they risked being annihilated if they refused to pull out following any deal between Russia and the US.
“In any case, if someone refuses to pull out willingly, they will be destroyed.” Russia and the US are on opposite sides of the conflict in Syria with Moscow backing Assad with airpower and Washington pushing for the strongman to go.
Regime forces have so far seized two-thirds of Aleppo’s opposition-held east since starting an operation to recapture the entire city in mid-November.
The assault has raised an international outcry, but Russia and China on Monday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a seven-day cease-fire in the city.
‘Disgrace’ for the West
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday it was a “disgrace” that the international community had been unable to alleviate the suffering in Syria’s besieged city of Aleppo.
“Aleppo is a disgrace,” she said in a speech to her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, slamming Russian and Iranian support for the bombardment by Assad’s regime.
“It is a disgrace that we have been unable to establish humanitarian corridors, but we must continue to fight for it.” Merkel said she was shocked to see tens of thousands of Germans hitting the streets to demonstrate against free trade deals but virtually no protests against the bloodletting in Syria.
“There is something wrong there,” she said.
Merkel added that the world needed a coordinated international fight against the “asymmetrical threat” of terrorism.
“But instead, Syria is succumbing to a vicious civil war in which Russia and Iran are backing the Assad regime in its brutal course of action against its own people,” she said.
Russia and the US are on opposite sides of the conflict in Syria with Moscow backing Assad with airpower and Washington pushing for the strongman to go.
Regime forces have so far seized two-thirds of Aleppo’s opposition-held east since starting an operation to recapture the entire city in mid-November.
The assault has raised an international outcry, but Russia and China on Monday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a seven-day cease-fire in the city.
Moscow has proposed setting up four humanitarian corridors into the city’s east but said regime approval remained essential.

Source: Arab News