BRUSSELS (AP) – French President Francois Hollande accused Russia on Thursday of reneging on its pledges in Syria, as the mayor of the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo appealed to Europe to send monitors to help ensure the safety of civilians.
“I have been talking constantly to Russia, and Russia makes commitments that it is not keeping. Now it is time for us to conclude a ceasefire,” Hollande told reporters as he arrived in Brussels for a summit of European Union leaders.
“We can’t leave women, men and children to suffer bombing, have their safety threatened, be taken by force and treated in such an undignified manner,” he said. “The regimes that support (Syrian President) Bashar Assad will have to take responsibility for this extremely serious situation.”
Outside EU headquarters, Aleppo Mayor Brita Hagi Hasan warned that 50,000 civilians in eastern Aleppo “are about to be victims of a general massacre.”
Speaking through an interpreter, he called for “a courageous position from the European Union, a position of sending of sending some forces to monitor the evacuation of civilians.”