MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Syrian rebels Saturday of using a fragile ceasefire to regroup, as diplomatic tensions between Moscow and Washington simmered over a lack of humanitarian aid access.
Fresh shelling and clashes were reported overnight in some areas of the war-torn country, but the US-Russia brokered truce which took effect on Monday appeared to be largely holding.
In New York, the UN Security Council cancelled an urgent meeting that had been called to discuss whether to endorse the ceasefire, billed as the "last chance" to end the five-year war that has killed 300,000 people.
The closed-door consultations were scrapped after Moscow and Washington failed to agree over disclosing details of the ceasefire to the council.
Putin, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said he remained "positive" about the truce but lashed out at rebels.
"We see attempts to regroup among these terrorists, to switch one label for another, one name for another and keep their military capacity," he said in televised remarks while on a trip to Kyrgyzstan.
Putin said Washington apparently "has the desire to keep the capabilities to fight the lawful government of President Assad," calling it a "very dangerous path."
Moscow said Friday that it was ready to prolong the truce by 72 hours, but there has been no formal announcement of an extension.
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