The United Nations special envoy for war-ravaged Syria called for an urgent international meeting to rescue a two-month-old truce that he said was in “great trouble” amid a surge in violence and a walkout by the main opposition group.
“The cessation of hostilities is still in effect, but it is in great trouble if we don’t act quickly,” Staffan de Mistura told reporters in Geneva on Friday. “It can definitely get back on track, but it will require urgent efforts.” Major powers led by Russia and the U.S., which brokered the partial cease-fire, must intervene, he said.
On Friday, the Syrian government unleashed the heaviest airstrikes on the key northern city of Aleppo since the start of the Feb. 27 cease-fire, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based opposition monitoring group.
Airstrikes hit several neighborhoods in the city, once Syria’s commercial hub, wounding several people, it said in an e-mailed statement. De Mistura described the situation as “very worrisome.”
Russia, which has been waging an air campaign in Syria for six months in support of President Bashar al-Assad, has defended the offensive around Aleppo as a response to “provocations” by an al-Qaida wing. The opposition blamed government forces backed by Russia and Iran for the near-collapse of the truce and warned they are seeking to seize control of the city.
Armed opposition groups that have signed the cease-fire must end their ties with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front to avoid getting attacked, Alexei Borodavkin, Russia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, who represents his country at Syria peace talks, said in an interview. The cease-fire doesn’t apply to the Nusra Front or Islamic State.
Speaking in London on Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama said he’s “deeply concerned” about whether the peace talks are “sustainable.” He said he discussed ways of keeping the cessation of hostilities alive during an April 18 phone call with Putin.
“This has always been hard and it’s going to keep being hard,” Obama told reporters at a news conference alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron. “We are going to continue to make progress, but we are not going to solve the overall problem unless we can get this political track moving. I assure you that we have looked at all options. None of them are great. And so, we are going to play this option out.”
