The Community of Sant’Egidio welcomes with confidence and hope the beginning of the 48 hour ceasefire in the city of Aleppo, announced last night by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, following an agreement between the conflicting parties, and congratulates for the initiative.

On 20 June 2014, Andrea Riccardi launched an appeal for Aleppo, which stated: “Saving Aleppo is worth more than the victory of one side or the other on the field! Humanitarian corridors need to be established and supplies for the civilians provided. Then it is necessary to negotiate, setting no deadline, the end of the fighting.”

It is extremely urgent that the ceasefire will be respected by everyone, and that it could be extended beyond the terms, to allow aid to reach the population, exhausted by a siege that lasted four years.

The appeal of Andrea Riccardi on video