Last Saturday, rebel forces in Syria took control of “large areas” of Aleppo, the second largest city in the country. The incursion prompted Russia, an ally of Assad, to launch the first offensives on Aleppo since 2016.
In this sense, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasili Nebenzya, criticized Ukraine and accused it of supporting the Aleppo attack and delivering weapons to fighters of the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) in Syria. ““There are no reasons for negotiations or a ceasefire,” stated Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s press secretary.
It should be noted that during the last two years, Putin’s country has redeployed weapons from Syria to Ukraine, thereby exposing some weakness in Syria could threaten Russia’s influence when engaging in talks to end the conflict with Ukraine.
The United States deputy ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, criticized Russia’s “props up regimes that sponsor terrorism around the world”. In addition, he regretted that the conflict in Syria is an opportunity for Israel to once again exert pressure against Syrian territory.
