President Obama’s top spokesman called the stepped-up bombing against civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo and the ensuing bloodshed “deeply distressing,” but declined to say whether the administration is considering contingency plans to respond if the city falls.
“The kind of action that I’ve been talking about is the kind of conversation that we’ve been having through the United Nations and a number of bilateral conversations that the U.S. has been engaged in in the region,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday.
“We’ve been very focused on that goal” of trying to broker a cease-fire that could lead to a diplomatic solution and political transition, Earnest said, noting that the U.S. has provided $5.9 billion in humanitarian assistance to Syria throughout its five-year civil war.
“We’ve been deeply concerned about the increasing pace of attacks by the Syrian army and the Russian military that has been deeply distressing,” Earnest said. “I don’t think there’s anybody satisfied when you see such widespread death and destruction … the blood that has been shed by innocent men, women and children.”
The UN’s Syria envoy issued a dire warning Thursday about the fate of Aleppo, and said the rebel-held city has two and a half months before it could be totally destroyed.
A Russian bombing campaign has hammered the area in recent weeks, which includes attacks on hospitals and the killing of hundreds of civilians.
Syrian government forces seized the last supply route into Aleppo in July, making the delivery of humanitarian aid virtually impossible.
