MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry will provide maximum assistance in delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo residents provided the Western countries decide to send aid, the ministry’s spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday commenting on the common statement on the situation in Aleppo issued by France, the US, Germany, Canada, Italy and the UK.

"If you are willing to send humanitarian aid for Aleppo residents, then inform us where the aid is. Russia’s defense ministry will provide maximum assistance so that the convoys arrive in Aleppo as fast as possible and civilians receive the aid. But if you just don’t have any humanitarian aid then you can’t feed Aleppo residents empty promises," Konashenkov stressed.

According to the Russian defense ministry, over 70% of the civilian dwelling areas have already been cleared from militants, Russia has been delivering dozens of tons of humanitarian aid to these areas.

Western leaders’ statement on Aleppo

The joint statement made by the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the United States on the situation in Aleppo lacks both specifics and facts, Konashenkov said.

"The message issued on their behalf (for some reason mentioning no names) that has been published on the British government’s website mentions some humanitarian disaster in Aleppo. As usual, no specifics of facts. Everybody is expected to take it for granted," he said.

"It only mentions some ‘heart-breaking’ images that have been published somewhere. This is a well-recognizable style of the British Foreign Office. Before, it claimed there were some widely available "images" of alleged bombardments of a humanitarian convoy in Aleppo by the Russian aerospace group. Somehow it forgot to show them to us," Konashenkov said.

He remarked that the statement must have been written "well in advance" and that its signatories had no chance to see it before the publication.

France, the United States, Germany, Canada, Italy and Britain on Wednesday came out with a joint statement saying that the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Aleppo required instant ceasefire.