President Vladimir Putin is seeking to lock in gains from the Syrian battlefield, where forces backed by Moscow are laying siege to the city of Aleppo, before a new U.S. president takes office in January, according to top lawmakers in Moscow.
Russia is pressing on with an offensive aimed at capturing Aleppo, once Syria’s biggest city and commercial capital, within a matter of months as the U.S and its allies consider increased arms deliveries to rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. The Kremlin has rejected pressure to halt the bombardment of Aleppo, where 250,000 civilians are trapped in what aid groups and the United Nations have called a humanitarian disaster.
