UN Must Get Access to Syria’s Aleppo, Britain's Boris Johnson Says

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has called "unacceptable" the fact that UN observers haven't got access to east Aleppo, adding that world powers now have to start working to support national ceasefire in Syria with a further goal of switching to a political settlement of the ongoing crisis.

LONDON (Sputnik) – Johnson has called for the presence of UN monitors in the recently liberated Syrian city of Aleppo.

"It is unacceptable that the UN has still not been given access to eastern Aleppo to assist those who remain and carry out monitoring," Johnson said in a Friday statement.

On Monday, the UN Security Council adopted a draft resolution on monitoring evacuations in Aleppo after it held extensive consultations the day before. The resolution in based on French and Russian proposals regarding the best way to implement and monitor evacuations on the ground.

"The international community – including Russia and Iran – must now work to support a nationwide Cessation of Hostilities to help create the environment for a political settlement based on genuine transition," Johnson said on Friday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday that the evacuation of people from Aleppo had been completed. Some 40,000 people, including militants, left the city since evacuations began a week ago following consultations between Russia, Turkey and Iran.

On December 16, the Russian Defense Ministry's center for Syrian reconciliation said that the Syrian army operation to liberate the eastern neighborhoods of the Syrian city of Aleppo was over.

Syrian government forces have been fighting against multiple opposition and terrorist groups, including the Islamic State (IS, also known as Daesh, which is banned in Russia and a number of other counties) and Jabhat Fatah al Sham, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, or Nusra Front. The Syrian civil war has been ongoing since 2011.