MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry does not have any information on Syrian opposition’s readiness to accept the UN plan on humanitarian support of the country’s civilian population, the ministry’s official spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.
He was commenting on statements made by Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, who said that the Syrian opposition in eastern parts of Aleppo agreed to accept the UN plan on humanitarian aid.
"The Russian Defense Ministry is ready to support any initiatives on delivering humanitarian aid to civilians in Syria not only from UN, but also from other international organizations and countries, regarding both eastern Aleppo and other parts of Syria," Konashenkov said.
He reminded that "thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid from Russia were already delivered by the Russian Center on Reconciliation in Syria to the provinces of Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Latakia, Palmyra, Deir ez-Zor and other cities."
"Talking about statements made by Mr Egeland on Aleppo. The Russian Defense Ministry does not have reliable information on alleged agreement of the ‘armed opposition’ to delivery of humanitarian aid. There are no names, evidence or documents, apart from Mr Egeland’s words," Konashenkov said.
"If the ‘opposition’ in Aleppo agrees to humanitarian aid and evacuation of civilians, who has mined and shells all humanitarian corridors then? Who opens fire from mortars and self-made rocket launchers at residential areas of western Aleppo?" Konashenkov wondered.
"Do terrorists now about his (Egeland’s) agreements with ‘opposition forces’? Or are the ‘opposition forces’ terrorists themselves that kill Aleppo residents at night and hold talks with UN representative Egeland during the day?" he noted.
Konashenkov stressed that "Russia repeatedly introduced humanitarian pauses in Aleppo for different duration, but every time they get disrupted for two reasons — UN representatives turn out to be not ready for delivering humanitarian aid, and terrorists in Aleppo don’t know that they allegedly agreed to let local residents evacuate."
"As a result, during the last humanitarian pause, two officers from the Russian reconciliation center, while expecting the humanitarian convoy to enter the city, sustained shrapnel wounds from the mortar shelling by militants from the eastern part of Aleppo," the spokesman reminded.