Millions of Syrians in 'free fall' as raging battles across country hinder aid access – UN

11 August 2016 - The tragedy unfolding in what has sadly become "the battle for Aleppo," where attacks and counter-attacks over the past days have only compounded the suffering on two million civilians already struggling to cope with power outages and water shortages, spotlights again that there is "no military solution [there] or anywhere else in Syria," the United Nations envoy on the crisis said today.

"Civilians on both sides of the conflict - on both sides of Aleppo - are in danger of being surrounded and affected by shortages and bombings," UN Special Envoy for Syria told reporters in Geneva, where he stressed that as the fighting in Aleppo has escalated, the people should not be forgotten and neither should the ongoing United Nations appeal for weekly 48 hour ceasefires.

As for the Russian proposal of three hour pauses in the hostilities, he said that amount of time is insufficient. "We need 48 hours in order to make convoys […] effective," he said, adding that Russia had indicated its willingness to discuss as soon as possible, with the UN, "how to improve what has been, in my opinion, an initial idea."

Mr. de Mistura also said that senior military officials from Russia and the United States are still working on restoring an overall ceasefire "focusing on the Castello road developments, no doubt, and on general new approaches for a reduction in violence," he said referring to the main supply route into the area.