Kerry wants quick deal on Aleppo to stop Syrian advance

The report, by Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, is eager to put a stop the Syrian operation in eastern Aleppo, because the new Trump administration may “squarely on the side of dictator [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad.”

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov confirmed the report of intensified contacts between Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Syria.

“This [effort] could be called unbelievable, in terms that there have never been so many phone calls between the Secretary of State and Russia’s FM which were focused on discussing a single issue – Syria,” he told journalists.

According to the Post, Kerry hopes to seal a ceasefire in Aleppo.

“Officials acknowledge that a frustrated Kerry still has not been given authority by the White House to bring any meaningful pressure to bear against Assad or Russia, placing him in a weak negotiating position. The prospect of Hillary Clinton being elected president gave Kerry some leverage, because she was expected to pursue a more hawkish Syria policy,” Rogin admitted.

A ceasefire in Aleppo on Kerry’s terms may be difficult to achieve, because of a US failure to separate moderates from terrorists, which was a key point of the truce negotiated by Moscow and Washington in September, and the reason the previous ceasefire collapsed.

The Syrian government operation to retake eastern Aleppo from armed insurgent groups has made progress, and Moscow therefore seems to be reluctant to listen to the outgoing administration.

Meanwhile the French call for an emergency UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Aleppo is an attempt to distract attention from humanitarian issues of the Western-backed operation in the Iraqi city of Mosul, said Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s envoy to the UN.

Paris is pushing for the meeting in order to “distract attention from what is going on in Mosul where the situation – in many respects, including humanitarian – is much is more dramatic than in eastern Aleppo,” Churkin told RT.

“With all the gravity of the situation [in eastern Aleppo] – where you have fighting going on – it has some indication of improvement,” he added.

According to Churkin, the French initiative is an attempt “to accuse the Syrian government and Russia of something, especially, at the time when the Syrian authorities launch a counter-offensive in an attempt trying to regain control of some territories.”

Earlier this week, the Syrian Army captured a large part of northeast Aleppo from insurgents. The city has been since since the start of the conflict in 2011.