The cessation of hostilities in and on Aleppo for a few hours on Thursday, as announced by Moscow, can only be the starting point.

Although a suspension of the air strikes is very welcome, eight hours are by no means enough time to provide the urgently needed humanitarian access to the people under siege in eastern Aleppo. More can be done – and it is a humanitarian imperative to do more.

I welcome the endeavours in New York to make progress in the United Nations Security Council and to agree on conditions for a ceasefire. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has our full support.

The air strikes on Aleppo must stop. There must be a clear distancing from al‑Nusra in the form of verifiable acts and not merely in words.