The Syrian army has halted its attacks on Syria's Aleppo to allow for the evacuation of civilians, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday. "I can tell you that today, combat operations by the Syrian army have been halted in eastern Aleppo because there is a large operation underway to evacuate civilians," he said in Hamburg, Germany, cited by Russian news agencies.
"There is going to be to a column of 8,000 evacuees" travelling five kilometers (3 miles), added the Russian minister, attending a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the announcement was "an indication that something positive could happen".