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Moscow said on
Monday that Russian and U.S. officials would meet this week to
discuss a possible rebel withdrawal from Aleppo. A U.S. official
told Reuters that Washington would embrace that as a step to
save lives.
The Syrian government describes all the rebel groups fighting to
bring down President Bashar al-Assad as terrorists. The
insurgents include groups backed by the United States, Turkey
and Gulf monarchies, as well as jihadist militants.
Russia and China vetoed a United Nations Security Council
resolution on Monday for a week-long ceasefire, with Moscow
arguing that rebels used such pauses in the fighting to
reinforce, causing more fighting and harm to civilians.
Russia, Assad's most powerful foreign supporter, has conducted a
campaign of air strikes against the rebels since September 2015,
including in Aleppo.
It says it is targeting the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham group, a former
al Qaeda affiliate previously known as the Nusra Front, in the
city. Rebels based in Aleppo say that Fateh al-Sham is not
present there in significant numbers.
(Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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