MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Halted Russian and Syrian flights in and around Aleppo is a goodwill gesture that Moscow hopes will lead to the separation of terrorists from the moderate opposition, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a briefing Tuesday.
"It is a goodwill gesture in the hope that the declared pause will be used to finally separate from Jabhat al-Nusra and like-minded groups from those armed groups that are supported, equipped and armed by the United States, a number of European and regional countries," Lavrov said.
On Monday, Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, chief of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate, announced a humanitarian pause to be introduced for eight hours on October 20.
Defense Minister Shoigu said Tuesday that Russian Aerospace Forces and Syrian Arab Air Force stopped airstrikes in the vicinity of Aleppo starting 07:00 GMT ahead of the humanitarian pause.
