France looks to UN for backing on Syrian ceasefire

France is to launch a new push for United Nations backing for a ceasefire in Syria that would allow aid into the city of Aleppo after some of the heaviest bombing of the war.

As diplomatic efforts resumed, a Syrian military source said army commanders had decided to scale back air strikes and shelling in Aleppo to alleviate the humanitarian situation there.

The Syrian army command said civilians in rebel-held eastern Aleppo were being used as human shields and a reduced level of bombardment would allow people to leave for safer areas.

France said foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault would travel to Russia and the United States on Thursday and Friday to try to persuade both sides to adopt a security council resolution to impose a new truce.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US secretary of state John Kerry, architects of a ceasefire that collapsed last month amid bitter recriminations, discussed Syria by telephone on Wednesday, but no details emerged.

Russian bombing

The Russian foreign ministry confirmed that Mr Lavrov would meet Mr Ayrault in Moscow on Thursday. The French minister’s trip comes after the collapse of a ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia last month, which has been followed by intense Syrian and Russian bombing of rebel-held areas of Aleppo.

For the past two weeks, a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive has been under way to capture eastern Aleppo and crush the last urban stronghold of a revolt against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. “This trip is in the framework of efforts by France to get a resolution adopted at the UN Security Council opening the path for a ceasefire in Aleppo and aid access for populations that need it so much,” the French foreign ministry said.

Draft resolution

The security council began negotiations on Monday on a French and Spanish draft resolution that urges Russia and the United States to ensure an immediate truce in Aleppo and to “put an end to all military flights over the city”.

Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow was engaged in discussions on the draft text even if he was not especially enthusiastic about its language. The draft text urges Russia and the US “to ensure the immediate implementation of the cessation of hostilities, starting with Aleppo, and, to that effect, to put an end to all military flights over the city.” The draft also asks UN chief Ban Ki-moon to propose options for UN-supervised monitoring of a truce. A French diplomatic source said: “It’s all that’s left. We’re not fools. The Russians aren’t going to begin respecting human rights from one day to the next, but it’s all we have to put pressure on them.”

Meanwhile, a UN expert said analysis of satellite imagery of a deadly and disputed attack on an aid convoy in Syria last month showed it was an air strike. Some 20 people were killed in the attack on the UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy.

The US blamed Russian warplanes. Moscow denies this and says the convoy caught fire. “With our analysis we determined it was an air strike,” Lars Bromley, research adviser at UNOSAT, told a news briefing. – (Reuters)