Syrians freeze at Turkey border: Norwegian Refugee Council
The Norwegian Refugee Council has expressed its concern for the thousands of Syrian civilians amassed at the border with Turkey after fleeing heavy fighting in Aleppo province.
"Tens of thousands of civilians, who have survived several years of war, are now giving up all hopes for a future in Syria. We have hardly seen a more dramatic escalation of the conflict than what we are witnessing now," NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland has said.
Red Cross steps up aid to Aleppo
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are stepping up aid to civilians in Aleppo, where a government offensive backed by Russian air strikes has caused thousands to flee and has cut off supply routes.
UN warns of hunger in Syria's Homs amid government offensive
A Syrian government military offensive has cut supply routes to 120,000 people in northern Homs province since mid-January, the United Nations has warned.
Residents of the area are at risk of hunger and malnutrition as well as deaths due to a lack of medical care. Bread prices in the area are already 10 times higher than in the city of Homs -- making the staple unaffordable for most families.
'Official plans for a ceasefire in Syria haven't been made public': Kremlin
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has responded to questions about media reports that Russia has proposed to the United States that a ceasefire start on March 1.
Peskov said that no plans had officially been made public yet -- though notably he did not deny that a proposal for a March 1 ceasefire had been made.
"The fact is that no plans have been officially made public. So let's start from that, and let's not speculate on information. You know that Russia has consistently made efforts in the context of resolving the Syrian conflict together with other countries, which are partners in the process. Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Peskov said.
More from Russia's Defense Ministry on its air operation in Syria:
The Ministry says, "recently we have heard advice from the Pentagon to change our strategy in Syria, to 'help' the United States achieve a political transition of power."
"We remind these advisors that the aim of our operations in Syria is to destroy terrorism -- a direct and clear threat to Russia and to the world."
Syrian opposition 'sharing recon' with Russian air force, Syrian gov't
Russia's Defense Ministry says that some "units of the Syrian opposition" are sharing reconnaissance data with the Russian air force and cooperating with the Syrian government.
Russia's Defense Ministry is tweeting about its air strikes in Syria. The ministry says that it is working with "partners" to obtain credible intelligence about targets.
The ministry also says that it only carries out strikes after eliminating risks of harm to civilians. Opposition groups, NGOs including Medicins Sans Frontieres and activist groups have said that Russian air strikes have led to a high number of civilian casualties.
Saudi-backed Syrian opposition disrupted Geneva peace talks: Russian Deputy FM
The Saudi-backed Syrian opposition faction High Negotiations Committee (HNC) disrupted the peace talks in Geneva, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov has said.
Gatilov added that the Syrian government delegation was ready to resume negotiations.
"Whoever disrupted the talks, let them answer. The Riyadh group disrupted the talks. So all questions [should go] to them. The government [in Damascus] is ready as far as I know," Gatilov said.
Russia ready to discuss Syria cease fire: Deputy FM
Russia is ready to discuss the issue of a cease fire in Syria at the Munich conference from Feb. 12-14, deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov has said.
"We are going toward this. We are ready to discuss the question of the modalities of a cease fire," Gatilov told reporters, commenting on media reports that Russia had proposed a cease fire from March 1.
However, Washington officials speaking anonymously have said that a March 1 ceasefire proposal reportedly sent by Russia to the United States was an attempt by Russia to give itself and the Syrian government three more weeks to crush moderate rebel groups.