A Syrian regime source claimed on Monday that their army was on the verge of announcing victory in its battle to retake opposition-held eastern Aleppo.
“We are in the final moments before declaring the victory of the … army in the battle of East Aleppo. We could announce this any moment,” the source said.
The regime’s army made new advances on Monday after taking the Sheikh Saeed district, leaving opposition fighters trapped in a tiny part of the city.
Earlier, the regime said its army gained control of 98 percent of eastern Aleppo.
Pope Francis, meanwhile, appealed to Syrian tyrant Bashar Assad in a personal letter to ensure that international humanitarian law is respected so that civilians are protected and aid can get to them, the Vatican said on Monday.
France accused Russia of constantly lying over its role in Syria, saying it was claiming to battle Daesh when it was only interested in backing Assad.
Another round of Russia-US talks on ending the bloody conflict made no progress at the weekend.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the talks failed “because there is double-talk and a sort of permanent lie” on the part of Russia. “On one hand they say: Let’s talk, let’s talk and get a cease-fire,” Ayrault said in Brussels.
“On the other hand, they continue the war and this war is a total war, aimed at saving Assad and capturing Aleppo,” he said.
Ayrault said Russia had focused so much on Aleppo that it had allowed Daesh to recapture Palmyra, revealing Moscow’s real priorities.
An opposition official accused Russia of backtracking from a US-backed proposal for fighters and civilians to leave with Moscow guaranteeing them safe passage.
Zakaria Malahifji, an official in the Fastaqim group, said from Turkey the US and Russia had come up with the draft proposal offering the opposition an “honorable” exit, but Russia then backtracked from it.

Source: Arab News