Moscow calls for 'guarantees' in proposed UN Syria ceasefire

MOSCOW: Russia on Friday criticized a proposed UN resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria, demanding that there be "guarantees" that the truce would be respected by the rebel fighters.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said of the proposal that "no one can answer the question if the fighters will respect this truce... no one is giving guarantees."

The proposed resolution, which is expected to be voted on at 1600 GMT, aims to ease the siege by Syrian regime forces on Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held bastion near Damascus.

It also would allow for urgent humanitarian aid to be delivered to the region and to organise evacuations for health reasons.

"In order for this resolution to be effective -- and we are ready to give our agreement to a text that does that -- we propose a plan allowing for a real truce and based on guarantees from all those who are inside and outside Eastern Ghouta," Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow.

Lavrov pointed to the Americans, who have "influence on the extremist groups remaining in this suburb of Damascus".

But for the moment, he added, the Americans and their allies "reject an amendment which would make them responsible for obtaining clear guarantees from the fighters that they cease their shooting."

Lavrov made these comments shortly before it was announced that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin urging him to back a UN resolution for a ceasefire in Syria.

More than 400 people have been killed in the five-day assault by the government on Eastern Ghouta, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said 400,000 Syrians are living in "hell on earth."