BERLIN (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Chief of Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov said that Russia would introduce a 10-hour humanitarian pause in Aleppo on Friday.
“What we are witnessing, we can say that is a positive development that the arms will be laid down until the day after tomorrow. This is anyway better than if fighting in and around the eastern Aleppo continued… But regarding the 10-hour ceasefires, which the Russian side constantly announces and are partially supported by the Syrian army – this is not enough. I think I can say, although I am not aware of details of such proposal, about which I found out just like you from the news agencies, that it is definitely not a breakthrough in a settlement of humanitarian and political crises around Aleppo,” he said.
Russia has already introduced the so-called humanitarian pause in October, to ensure the safe evacuation of civilians and unarmed militants from eastern part of the embattled city via eight designated corridors. During the humanitarian pause, al-Nusra Front terrorist group, recently renamed as Jabhat Fatah al Sham, outlawed in Russia, prevented civilians from fleeing the city, attacking them. As the evacuation failed and the humanitarian pause ended, the Syrian government launched an offensive against the militants.
