Russia said Tuesday that the truce in Syria could only be resumed if terrorists halted their attacks, after Damascus announced an end to a week-long ceasefire.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian military was looking into “information” about an air strike on a UN aid convoy in Syria.
“I don’t think it is possible or correct to make any unsubstantiated conclusions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Our military is currently verifying information about this strike and I hope they will receive concrete information from the ground and can then release a statement.”
The UN said at least 18 trucks in a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday as they were en route to deliver humanitarian assistance to the hard-to-reach town of Orum al-Kubra, killing a Red Crescent staff member and civilians.
The United Nations has since suspended all humanitarian aid convoys for security reasons.
The incident came hours after the Syrian military declared an end to a week-long truce brokered by the Moscow and Washington earlier this month in an attempt to end the five-year war. Damascus stressed that the Syrian army had abided by the truce, noting that the violations were carried out by Takfiri terrorists.
Peskov said that hope for a renewal of the ceasefire was “for now, very weak”, stressing that a truce could only be resumed if terrorists halted their bombardments
“The conditions are very simple. The shooting needs to stop and the terrorists need to stop attacking Syrian troops,” he said.
“And, of course, it wouldn’t hurt if our American colleagues didn’t accidentally bomb the Syrians,” he added, referring to a US-led coalition strike last week that Moscow said had killed at least 62 Syrian servicemen.
Russia’s defense ministry said Monday that the week-long truce had been violated 302 times and that 63 civilians had been killed.
Source: AFP
