German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday reiterated her proposal for a no-fly zone in Syria where civilians would be protected, a suggestion that was promptly rebuffed by Moscow, which said it can only be done with the Syrian government’s consent.
In Damascus, over 100 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid were expected to head out to five besieged areas in in the country, part of an effort described by a Russian official as a first step toward implementation of an agreement reached among world powers in Munich last week. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has been trying to secure aid deliveries to improve the chances of restarting peace talks before the end of February. But those efforts have been clouded by the intense fighting north of Aleppo, where various forces backed by regional and international rivals are clashing over a crucial strip of land linking Syria’s largest city to the border with Turkey.
The violence in Aleppo and lack of improvement on the humanitarian front led to the collapse of indirect talks between the Syrian government and its opponents in Geneva earlier this month.
It appears also to have revived a long-standing proposal to establish a no-fly zone in northern Syria, an idea that has been repeatedly floated by Turkey and other opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the five-year-old war. A no-fly zone would potentially create a safe haven for tens of thousands of displaced Syrians. But Washington has long rejected the idea, fearing it would draw US forces further into the civil war.
Merkel expressed support for the idea on Tuesday, and repeated it again on Wednesday. She said it could be done by agreement between Assad, his backers and the coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
At a news conference, she said such an agreement would be “a sign of good will” and would put many people at ease.
Enforcing a no-fly zone has become considerably more difficult since Russia began its air campaign in Syria late last year.
A senior Russian diplomat, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov, shrugged off Merkel’s proposal, saying it would require Damascus’ consent and Security Council approval. The US, Russia and other world powers agreed last week on ceasing hostilities within a week, the delivery of urgently needed aid to besieged areas of Syria and a call to return to peace talks in Geneva.
Gatilov said that “the implementation of the Munich agreements on Syrian settlement has started.”