MOSCOW. Nov 22 (Interfax) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) must be able to deliver aid to residents in eastern Aleppo, whether or not the ceasefire is in place, ICRC President Peter Maurer said in an interview with Interfax.
"In order to bring in aid to eastern Aleppo - which we have not been able to do since April 2014 - we need security guarantees from all sides and unimpeded access to all parts of the city," Maurer said ahead of his visit to Russia on November 23-25.
"Ceasefire or not, we need to be able to act and provide relief to communities affected by the fighting," he said.
The humanitarian situation in Aleppo is still alarming, with civilians being the most affected, Maurer said.
"The ICRC seeks a humanitarian dialogue with all parties to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq - just as it does elsewhere," the ICRC president said when asked whether his organization maintains contact with the ISIL and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups (both banned in Russia) in Syria.
"In fact, our humanitarian mandate demands that we engage with all parties to a conflict. The central aim of all such contacts is to try to relieve the suffering of civilians caught up in conflict. The details of this dialogue remain confidential," Maurer said.