Secretary of State John Kerry scolded the Russian government for supporting a “siege in medieval terms” of the rebel-held city of Aleppo, which is under attack from Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
“Russia needs to set an example, not a precedent — an unacceptable precedent, I might add, for the entire world,” Kerry said Saturday before a meeting with his counterparts from several European countries.
Assad has launched an intense attack on Aleppo, a critical rebel-held city in northern Syria, following the breakdown of a ceasefire. As negotiated, the ceasefire pact would have provided a non-violent means of lifting the siege: Kerry had agreed to prevent future attacks on Assad by U.S.-backed groups and promised military coordination with Russia against Islamic State; in exchange, Russia and Syria were to allow humanitarian aid to reach Aleppo.
But Syria and Russia never held up their end of the bargain. A United Nations aid convoy was bombed in an attack that the United States blamed on the Russians.
“What is happening in Aleppo today is unacceptable,” Kerry said Saturday. “It is beyond the pale. If people are serious about wanting a peaceful outcome to this war, then they should cease and desist bombing innocent women and children, cease cutting off water and laying siege in medieval terms to an entire community, and work with the international community in order to be able to bring peace to people who are starving — literally starving, but also starving for the possibilities of a future without chlorine dropping on them out of the sky, barrel bombs, and indiscriminate bombing.”
