5 December 201615:12
2249-05-12-2016
Developing the agreements reached by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome on December 2, Russian and US experts should start, at the US proposal, to work on the East Aleppo problem. This work should be aimed at complete withdrawal of all militants from the eastern part of the city, as Russia has suggested for a long time. The sides will also have to coordinate the routes and time for the complete withdrawal of all militants. Once this is done a ceasefire will be announced with a view to their evacuation.
In this way the problem of East Aleppo may be effectively resolved, the security of civilians and smooth humanitarian supplies ensured and life in the city normalised.
Under the circumstances the intention of a number of UN Security Council members to put to a vote in the council a draft resolution on the humanitarian situation in Aleppo is a provocation that is undermining Russian-US efforts.
The draft suggests an immediate ceasefire rather than the withdrawal of all militants. Moreover, militants in East Aleppo are given 10 days to decide whether to be part of the armistice or not. No doubt, the militants will use this generous break that the co-authors of the draft are ready to give them to regroup and build up their forces and arms, as they have done in the past. It would slow down the liberation of East Aleppo from the militants and prolong the suffering of civilians.
Under the current circumstances, this draft is counterproductive. If those who are primarily concerned about escalating tensions in the media nonetheless decide to put it to a vote, we will proceed from the premise that it cannot be useful and contradicts the approaches that Moscow and Washington are coordinating.
