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Syria conflict: Powers divided over ceasefire Syria conflict: Powers divided over ceasefire
(about 2 hours later)
A US push for an immediate ceasefire in Syria has run into Russian opposition ahead of talks aimed at reviving stalled peace negotiations.A US push for an immediate ceasefire in Syria has run into Russian opposition ahead of talks aimed at reviving stalled peace negotiations.
Russia is reported to have proposed starting the ceasefire on 1 March, but the US believes Moscow is giving itself and the Syrian government three weeks to crush rebel forces. Russia is reportedly calling for a halt to hostilities on 1 March, but the US suspects it wants to give the Syrian army three weeks to crush rebel forces.
World powers are meeting in Munich later for talks on the Syria conflict. Russian air strikes have been helping the army make major gains in Aleppo province, displacing 50,000 people.
Discussions come amid fresh warnings of a worsening humanitarian situation. World powers will discuss the ceasefire proposal at a meeting in Munich later.
A surge in fighting in Syria's northern Aleppo province has displaced about 50,000 people, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned - adding that supply routes for aid have been cut, putting civilians under "enormous pressure". The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, called on them to ensure that talks in Geneva aimed at finding a political solution to the conflict resume as soon as possible.
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Kurdish fighters, reportedly backed by Russian air strikes, have meanwhile driven Islamist rebels from a former Syrian military air base north of Aleppo. The talks were suspended last week while still in the preparatory phase, with both sides blaming each other for the failure to make any progress.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said Russian aircraft had carried out at least 30 raids against the remnants of the rebel force at Menagh, allowing Kurds to take full control overnight. More than 250,000 people have died in almost five years of war in Syria.
Reports quoting the Russian defence ministry say its planes have carried out 510 military sorties in Syria in the last week. Eleven million others have fled their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other, as well as jihadist militants from so-called Islamic State (IS).
Russia says they are targeting only "terrorists", but Western powers say they have mostly hit mainstream opposition groups and civilians. Thursday's meeting of the International Syria Support Group in Munich will bring together both allies and opponents of Mr Assad, including Russia, Iran, the US and Saudi Arabia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used a live television address to warn on Thursday that refugee numbers could increase to 600,000 if the strikes continue. Before they began, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Moscow was "ready to discuss the modalities of a ceasefire", without giving any further details.
Attacking the mounting pressure on Turkey to allow in 30,000 Syrians displaced by the fighting around Aleppo who are stranded at its border, he said Turkey would be patient up to a point, but then would be forced to take action. US officials say Russia has proposed that the ceasefire start on 1 March.
'Trying to destroy opposition' One official told the Associated Press that the US could not accept that date because rebel forces might suffer irreversible losses in northern and southern Syria before the ceasefire took hold.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to push for an immediate ceasefire and access for aid workers in Aleppo when Russia, the US, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other powers meet in Munich later. US Secretary of State John Kerry wants a ceasefire to be effective immediately and accompanied by humanitarian organisations being given full access to besieged areas, where the UN says more than 400,000 people are living in dire conditions.
But Syrian officials have indicated no plans to ease up the battle to return Aleppo to state control. France's permanent representative to the UN, Francois Delattre, said: "The [Syrian] regime and its allies cannot pretend they are extending a hand to the opposition while with their other hand they are trying to destroy them."
The UN human rights chief also on Thursday expressed "utmost alarm" at the rapidly worsening human rights situation in and around the city of Aleppo.
Since the offensive by government forces began on 1 February, dozens of civilians had been killed and some 51,000 displaced, Mr Zeid said, adding that 300,000 others in rebel-held eastern Aleppo were at risk of being placed under siege.
"We have also received numerous reports of destruction of civilian infrastructure, including at least three clinics and two bakeries since the launch of this latest round of hostilities," he added.
Syrian officials have indicated no plans to ease up the battle for Aleppo.
And Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said his country was not about to be "apologetic" for its actions, accusing other UN Security Council members of exploiting the humanitarian situation for their own political gain.And Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said his country was not about to be "apologetic" for its actions, accusing other UN Security Council members of exploiting the humanitarian situation for their own political gain.
Western officials suggest Washington has concerns about Russia's ceasefire proposal and that no agreement has been reached. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used a live television address to warn on Thursday that refugee numbers could increase to 600,000 if the strikes continue.
France's permanent representative to the UN, Francois Delattre, said on Wednesday night: "The [Syrian] regime and its allies cannot pretend they are extending a hand to the opposition while with their other hand they are trying to destroy them." Attacking the mounting pressure on Turkey to allow in 30,000 of those displaced by the fighting around Aleppo who are stranded at its border, he said Turkey would be patient up to a point, but then would be forced to take action.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has warned that the arrival of thousands of displaced people in Azaz, near the Bab al-Salam crossing on the Turkish border, has left health systems "close to collapse". Mr Erdogan also confirmed the authenticity of leaked minutes of a conversation between himself and top European Union officials last year, in which he threatened to send buses full of Syrians to Europe if a favourable deal on handling the refugee crisis was not forthcoming.
People have been forced to seek shelter in already thinly-stretched camps, according to the international medical organisation. Nato member states meanwhile agreed to begin naval patrols in the Aegean Sea to deter people smugglers plying their trade between Turkey, which is hosting more than 2.5 million Syrian refugees, and Greece.
Up to 300,000 people could be cut off from aid if Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militias encircle rebel-held eastern Aleppo, the UN has said.