Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

The leaders of Russia, France and Germany concluded talks on Syria in Berlin, which lasted 1.5 hours.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Francois Hollande discussed the situation in Syria, "Interfax" reported.

The discussion on Syria took place as the situation in the country remains tense, especially around the city of Aleppo, where a humanitarian pause has been announced, lasting 11 hours, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time (05:00 to 16:00 GMT), so that civilians could escape Aleppo’s eastern districts and aid convoys could safely reach those who remain.

Russian President’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed on October 19 that Putin plans to discuss the Syrian issue with his colleagues from France and Germany.

Peskov further noted that the main purpose of the trip to Berlin is to discuss the prospects of the implementation of Minsk agreements, although the Russian President is open for discussion of Syrian issues as well.

Since September 19, when the Bashar al-Assad regime announced the end of a week-long truce sponsored by Washington and Moscow, Syrian and Russian warplanes have pounded opposition-held parts of Aleppo.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, a Beirut-based NGO, has put the total death toll from the five-year conflict at more than 470,000.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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