General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian federation
October 17th 2016 briefing
Lieutenant-General Sergey Rudskoy
Oct 17, 2016
Chief of the main operations directorate of Russia’s General Staff
says Moscow has agreed with Syria on declaring a brief humanitarian pause in the flashpoint city of Aleppo.
Rudskoy said Moscow will halt its airstrikes on Aleppo from eight AM to four PM local time on Thursday. He added that Syrian troops will also refrain from targeting foreign-backed militants during the unilateral truce. The Russian military official also expressed Russia’s readiness for providing medical personnel with unhindered access to Aleppo at the request of humanitarian groups. Rudskoy, however, ruled out a lasting ceasefire in the flashpoint city for now. Moscow’s proposed eight-hour pause in Aleppo airstrikes has been welcomed by the United Nations.