WASHINGTON — The United States expressed skepticism Nov. 2 after Russia said it would extend a pause in airstrikes on Aleppo until Nov. 4 so that civilians, the wounded and opposition fighters could leave the besieged city. But while the United States described the plan as recycled and insufficient, American officials have taken note of the fact that Russia has largely halted aerial bombardment in Aleppo’s old city since mid-October, even while no humanitarian aid has been permitted to be brought into rebel-held eastern Aleppo, which has been besieged for over three months.
“These humanitarian pauses are really nothing more than the Russians want to provide an opportunity for people to get out before they resume the bombing,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told journalists at the press briefing Nov. 2.