SYRIA

Rubble from destroyed buildings blocks a street in Aleppo. The scene is all too common across the country.

Intro: As Aleppo has been subjected to Russian bombardment over the past two weeks, the city has been left in a condition that can only be described as inhumane and beyond belief

RUSSIA has said that forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad are in possession and are controlling a third of the city of Aleppo.

What in fact they are in possession of is a lot of rubble from the devastation that the fighting has caused. The city is almost destroyed and is horrendous for the inhabitants that remain in this besieged city. In Aleppo, very little is left.

The situation has undoubtedly been made far worse since Putin’s forces have stepped in, with their military fighter jets and bombers and their boots on the ground. Russian intervention in Syria has been decisive, hard though it may be for the West to accept. The near annihilation and stomach wrenching images being beamed back from Aleppo is a very clear signal that we have been backing the losing side. That backing was only ever partial and delicately targeted to specific anti-Assad militant groups. There is no political appetite in the West – or in the UK – to increase our military resources that would inevitably lead to a face-off with Russia and Assad’s well equipped forces. We must now accept that the Syrian tyrant has won.

The best we can now do is to persuade the groups who we do back to call a ceasefire and try to end this brutal and destructive war. It has been raging now for more than five years.

As Aleppo has been subjected to Russian bombardment over the past two weeks, the city has been left in a condition that can only be described as inhumane and beyond belief. Hospitals have been flattened, babies have been taken out of their incubators as doctors desperately try to protect them, and aid agencies have been blocked in their task of reaching those most in need with medical and food stocks. About 250,000 people have been left without vital supplies; more than 450,000 people are believed to have died in the conflict to date.

As much as the West may detest the idea of Assad still being in power, we need to convince people to negotiate so that Syria can be rebuilt. This is essential not only for the besieged people of the country, who have had their lives disrupted for so long, but for the whole of Europe and other countries in the Middle East, many of which are struggling to cope with a huge influx of refugees.

This is all we can now hope for.