Assad refuses to approve UN Aleppo aid amid intense airstrikes

As the airstrikes and shelling of the eastern Aleppo intensified after a brief period of relative calm, the Bashar al-Assad regime approved a United Nations plan to allow aid convoys into the most besieged areas of Syria, with the exception of Aleppo. The situation for 275,000 people trapped in eastern Aleppo, encircled by Assad forces, remains "dire", Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, deputy U.N. Special Envoy for Syria said. The U.N. has tried for weeks to evacuate the wounded and chronically sick from eastern Aleppo, but a ceasefire is required to do so, Ramzy also noted.

Air strikes continue pummeling opposition-held Aleppo as Assad said taking city is key to capturing other areas. At least 99 Syrians have been killed across the eastern half of the city Aleppo over the past two days.

Rising casualties in Aleppo, where many buildings have been reduced to rubble or are lacking roofs or walls, have prompted an international outcry and a renewed diplomatic push, with talks between the United States and Russia planned for Saturday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday he had "no special expectations" for Saturday's talks on the Syria crisis that will be held in Lausanne because Moscow had not yet seen reciprocal steps from its Western partners. Russia does not intend to put forward new initiatives on resolving the conflict in Syria, Lavrov told reporters in the Armenian capital Yerevan.

Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry agreed this week to hold the meeting in Switzerland to consider what further steps could be taken to achieve a resolution of the Syria conflict, with the participation of foreign ministers from Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iran. "We want to get down to concrete work and see how well our partners observe the U.N. Security Council resolution," Lavrov said. "We are not going to propose anything else."

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday approved an agreement allowing permanent use of the military base in Khmeimim, Syria. The agreement signed between Russia and Assad regime in August 2015 provides for the permanent deployment of Russian warplanes and soldiers at the airbase. Earlier this week Russian Defense Minister Nikolay Pankov said Russia plans a permanent naval base in Tartus, Syria's second-largest port city.