UN Security Council to hold meeting on Aleppo

The UN Security Council has scheduled a meeting Wednesday afternoon on the escalating violence in Aleppo in response to an urgent request from Britain and France.

During the meeting, U.N. political chief Jeffrey Feltman will brief the council on the situation in Aleppo.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre described Aleppo as the "martyred center of the resistance" to Syrian leader Bashar Assad and said the city "has been under constant bombardment since 2012." "Aleppo is burning and it is crucial that we focus on this top priority issue," said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft.

The request for urgent talks came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow that efforts were under way to agree on a freeze in fighting in Aleppo, adding that he hoped a new ceasefire could be announced "within hours".

Source: Petra