Hollande: I will do everything possible to extend Aleppo ceasefire

French President Francois Hollande will do “everything possible” to try to extend the ceasefire in eastern Aleppo when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin this evening.

Last week Hollande refused to meet with Putin unless Syria was discussed, it now set to be the main topic for this evening. The meeting comes as Berlin hosts a summit on Ukraine today and the three leaders will hold separate talks on the situation in Syria following the conference.

“France will do everything to exert pressure, notably on the allies of the [Syrian] regime – I’m thinking of the Russians – so that the truce can be extended,” Hollande added.

President of the city council for opposition-held Aleppo, Brita Hagi Hassan, said that Europe had talked a great deal about saving the city, but has actually done very little in reality.

“We talked about the European Union being a big power, but there have been a lot of words, sympathy, but not many acts. The EU, as a big power, has been in third place behind the United States and Russia, which has been helping the regime with all its power to massacre the Syrian people.”

A meeting on Brussels tomorrow will discuss Syria’s ties with Russia and the possibility of sanctions against Moscow for its actions in Syria even if there is no European-wide consensus in the short-term.

Russia has said that it will extend its humanitarian pause until 19.00 tomorrow evening.