France’s President Francois Hollande is pleading for a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to flee and get access to food and medical aid, as the Syrian government forces say they have gained control of 98 percent of eastern Aleppo.
Hollande said “there cannot be any solution without a cease-fire,” after a meeting in Paris Monday with Riad Hijab, head of the Syrian opposition’s High Negotiations Committee.
Hollande said France will continue to back Syria’s opposition in its fight against the Islamic State group and other extremist groups, and at the same time against the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad.
Hijab said, “if the regime is making progress in Aleppo districts, that doesn’t mean we will offer concessions” on the opposition demand that Assad leave power.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault says Russia is using double talk and lies to undermine the effort to produce a cease-fire in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
