Russia is ready to persuade the Syrian government to agree to a UN proposal to escort rebel fighters out of Aleppo, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian state media.
The
proposal to clear the city of fighters with thel Nusra Front, made by UN
Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, was intended as a means to
ease hostilities in the besieged city.
"I
heard his statement concerning only Nusra. For God's sake, if al-Nusra
leaves with weapons toward Idlib, where its main forces are based, we
are ready to support this approach for the sake of Aleppo and will be
ready to urge the Syrian government to agree," Lavrov said in an
interview with Russia's Channel One.
Opposition
fighters remaining in Aleppo after the UN special envoy's plan is
enacted should be clearly separated from the militant group, he added.
It's unclear exactly how de Mistura's
plan would be carried out or whether the Nusra Front -- now known as
Jabhat Fatah al Sham -- would sign up to any such deal.
US
Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile blasted Russia and the Syrian
regime for what he said was yet another attack on a hospital in Aleppo
overnight that killed 20 people and injured 100.
Speaking
in Washington on Friday alongside French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc
Ayrault, Kerry said Russia and the Syrian regime "owe the world more
than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals and medical
facilities and children and women."
Those
responsible should be held accountable for these actions, Kerry said,
saying they were "way beyond -- years beyond -- the accidental."
Kerry
said the two would discuss "how best to deliver the strongest message
possible" about the "siege of innocent people" in Aleppo.
Ayrault called Aleppo a "human tragedy" and warned that if nothing was done, Aleppo could be destroyed by the end of the year.
