As he warned that tragedy was looming in Syria’s Aleppo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was unrealistic to accept that the government would stand by when armed group were occupying major cities.

As he warned that tragedy was looming in Syria’s Aleppo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was unrealistic to accept that the government would stand by when armed group were occupying major cities.

During a press conference, Lavrov said that Moscow was convincing Damascus regime to make some gestures.
"We are persuading the government that they need to make some first gestures.”

"But when the armed opposition are occupying cities like Aleppo, where yet another tragedy is brewing as I understand,... it is not realistic to expect that they (the government) will accept this," Lavrov stressed.

The Syrian army started on Saturday an operation in the city of Aleppo in a bid to retake the southwestern district where the armed groups have been concentrated since July 20.
"How can you hope that in such a situation, the government will simply reconcile itself and say 'All right, I was wrong. Come on and topple me, change the regime'?" Lavrov wondered.

"It's just not realistic -- not because we are holding onto this regime -- but it simply doesn't work," the FM told the news conference in the southern city of Sochi which was broadcast live by state media.

Meanwhile, Lavrov accused Western countries  of providing assistance to the armed groups.
In Syria, "excesses are committed from all sides. ... We need to put pressure on all of them," Lavrov said.

"Our Western partners ... together with some of Syria's neighbors are essentially encouraging, supporting and directing an armed struggle against the regime."
 "The price of this is yet more blood," he added.