The leaders of Russia and Iran, military allies of Syria's president, talked today about joining forces to reach a quick political settlement in Syria, as the country's largest city, Aleppo, was poised to return to full government control.
Syrian state TV said it expected the evacuation of thousands of civilians and fighters from the last opposition footholds in Aleppo to be completed by tomorrow.
The departure of the last rebels from Aleppo would close another chapter in Syria's civil war and would give President Bashar Assad a significant symbolic and strategic victory.
Almost six years after the outbreak of an armed rebellion against Assad, the Syrian leader will be in charge again of the country's five largest cities and the Mediterranean coast.
The presidents of Russia and Iran spoke by phone today to discuss the next moves. The Kremlin said Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani "underlined the need for joint efforts to launch a real political process aimed at a quick settlement in Syria."
The leaders noted that a quick launch of talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, would be an important step toward that goal, a Kremlin statement said.
The conversation came a day before a scheduled meeting of foreign and defense ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran in Moscow. Russia and Iran have backed Assad, while Turkey has supported the opposition.
In the Turkish capital of Ankara, meanwhile, the Russian ambassador was shot and killed by a man shouting, "Don't forget Aleppo. Don't forget Syria!" The gunman fired at least eight shots, killing Ambassador Andrei Karlov, 62, at an embassy-sponsored exhibition, and was then shot dead by police.
At the United Nations, officials said more than 100 UN humanitarian staff on the ground in Syria, most of them Syrian nationals, could start monitoring the Aleppo evacuations.
Earlier today, the UN Security Council had approved a resolution urging the immediate deployment of the monitors, following a French-Russian compromise over the text.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said there will also be observers from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Crescent.
France said the monitors were needed to prevent "mass atrocities" from being committed by Syrian government forces, especially militias. But thousands have already been evacuated from the city and the operation could be completed before the observers arrive.
The resolution also demands that all parties allow unconditional and immediate access for the UN and its partners to deliver humanitarian aid and medical care, and "respect and protect all civilians across Aleppo and throughout Syria."
Syria's UN Ambassador, Bashar al-Ja'afari, claimed that one of the "main purposes" of the deployment was to rescue foreign intelligence officers from the former rebel-held area.
He named 12 alleged officers still trying to get out of Aleppo -- six from Saudi Arabia and one each from Turkey, the United States, Israel, Qatar, Jordan and Morocco. He said: "We are going to catch them ... And show them to you.
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