Syria hands ceasefire plan to Russia

Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moualem said today he had handed Russia plans for a ceasefire with rebel forces in Syria's biggest city, Aleppo, and was ready to exchange lists on a possible prisoner swap.

Washington and Moscow have been trying to negotiate some confidence-building measures between the warring sides and allow humanitarian aid to flow to areas worst hit in the nearly three-year-old civil war.

"I count on the success of this plan if all sides carry out their obligations," Mr Moualem told a joint news conference in Moscow with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov before a planned peace conference on Syria in Switzerland next week.

“We would like this to serve as an example to other towns,” Mr Moualem said of the plan for Aleppo, he said.

He and Lavrov underlined the closeness of their countries’ views on the peace conference in Montreux starting on January 22nd.

Russia is Syria’s most powerful international protector and arms supplier.

Mr Lavrov held talks on Thursday with Mr Moualem and Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and called for Iran to be represented at the conference, but Mr Lavrov said their meeting was not part of a “hidden agenda”.

Sitting beside Mr Moualem, Mr Lavrov criticised factions in the Syrian opposition that have yet to decide whether to take part in the peace conference.

“It worries us very much that some kind of game is being played,” he said.

The centrist opposition National Coordination Body announced its decision not to attend, while the main umbrella opposition body in exile, known as the National Coalition, is due to decide on Friday.

Hope for a small-scale temporary ceasefire, however, has been boosted by promises from Syrian rebels backed by Washington that if the government commits to such a partial ceasefire, they would abide by it, Washington has said.

In recent weeks Russia has stepped up supplies of military gear to Syria, including armoured vehicles, drones and guided bombs, boosting President Bashar al-Assad just as rebel infighting has weakened the insurgency against him, sources with knowledge of the deliveries say.

Several sources told Reuters that Dr Assad’s forces had since December received deliveries of weaponry and other military supplies, including unmanned spy drones known as UAVs, which have been arranged by Russia either directly or via proxies.

“Dozens of Antonov 124s (Russian transport planes) have been bringing in armoured vehicles, surveillance equipment, radars, electronic warfare systems, spare parts for helicopters, and various weapons including guided bombs for planes,” a Middle East security source said.

Reuters