Terms of 48-hour Aleppo truce still to be negotiated: Western envoy

The diplomat, speaking after a closed-door meeting of the cessation of hostilities task force in Geneva, said it was important for the United Nations to lead the effort to deliver aid to some 2 million civilians in the divided northern city.

"It is not a Russian operation, it has to be a U.N. operation to be a good and credible operation," he told Reuters. "It would start at the beginning of next week on condition that there is an agreement between the U.N., Russia and the (Syrian) regime on modalities."

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Andrew Roche)