Abdelbasset Sida, the chief of the opposition Syrian National Council, says that the international community "will bear responsibility for what is happening in Aleppo if they do not move soon".

Sida said that the world should bypass the United Nations Security Council, because initiatives taken under the auspices of the UNSC could be vetoed. Russia and China have vetoed previous resolutions on the situation in Syria, saying that they amounted to taking sides in an internal Syrian matter.

"Any action has to be from outside the Security Council through an Arab League initiative and through a resolution passed by the General Assembly," he said.