MOSCOW. Aug 4 (Interfax-AVN) - The liberation of the Syrian city of Aleppo before the end of the summer is highly unlikely, Viktor Ozerov, head of the Federation Council Defense and Security Committee, told Interfax on Thursday.
"We have too few days left before the end of the summer. This is not the case where you set a deadline and then try to fit the results into it. The first priority is to save people's lives, not raise the flag and declare the operation over," he said.
There is no deadline yet for the humanitarian operation that the Russian military and the Syrian authorities are conducting in Aleppo, Ozerov said.
"How long it will last - I think for as long as the flow of people leaving Aleppo continues and militants surrender. When these issues are closed, it will be time to assess the situation and make a decision on completing the humanitarian operation," Ozerov said.
This will probably lead to "achieving the goals that the Russian Armed Forces, jointly with the Syrian army, have set themselves of liberating Syria from terrorists," he said.
Many militants remain in Aleppo, Ozerov said.
"No one did their head count. I think there's a fair bit of them there. There are forces that the U.S. regards as so-called 'moderate opposition' but these forces are using chemical weapons against the population," he said.
Russia and the Syrian government declared the large-scale humanitarian operation in Aleppo on June 28. The Russian servicemen said they initiated the delivery of the humanitarian aid to the Aleppo region. The corridors for the exit of civilians and surrendering militants opened.