Russia 'interested in' UN proposal on Aleppo

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia’s foreign minister said his country was interested in a proposal made by UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura who asked al-Nusra Front militants to leave the northern Syrian city of Aleppo with their weapons.

Sergey Lavrov, speaking to Russia's Channel One on Friday, said Moscow was "ready to support this approach for the sake of Aleppo".

Lavrov said Moscow would also be "ready to urge the Syrian government to agree", according to Russian-based Sputnik news agency.

On Thursday, de Mistura said he would “personally” accompany around 900 al-Nusra fighters out of Aleppo, should it end hostilities.

Speaking in Geneva, he said Russia and the Syrian regime could outright destroy Syria’s opposition-held eastern Aleppo, where 275,000 civilians live, on the pretext of killing al-Nusra terrorists.

The northern Syrian city of Aleppo -- the country's largest city before the war -- has been subject to an intense air campaign by Syrian and Russian warplanes amid clashes between forces allied to the Syrian regime and opposition forces.

Scores of civilians have reportedly been killed or injured in the attacks, which remain ongoing.