Russia's president has “ignored all appeals” for constructive action in Syria's broken city, according to a chancellery spokesman.

(Source: dpa) Inhabitants of the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo inspect whats left their belongings and houses on Wednesday.

Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that the Kremlin, as the Assad regime’s main ally, had a “responsibility” to influence the Syrian dictator.

Russia and Syria’s neighbor Turkey negotiated a ceasefire in Aleppo on Tuesday, but the agreement quickly collapsed into renewed airstrikes, shelling and gunfire in the severely wartorn city.

Syrian and rebel officials confirmed on Thursday that a new truce has been in effect since 03:00 GMT. Evacuations of rebels and civilians are expected to take place in the morning by bus, according to reports.

Just a day before, buses and ambulances had been brought in only to be turned away shortly afterwards.

Ms. Merkel called for a nationwide ceasefire and humanitarian help “to bring survivors to safety,” Steffen Seibert, the chancellor’s spokesman in Berlin, said on Wednesday.

The German government, normally reserved in its international statements, has sharply criticized the Kremlin’s support of the Assad regime’s military offensive against Syria's largest city, once a major commercial hub.

Nobody knows how many people have been killed by the hail of Syrian-Russian bombs. Steffen Seibert, Chancellery spokesman

“Nobody knows how many people have been killed by the hail of Syrian-Russian bombs,” Mr. Seibert said, but the conquest of Aleppo by Syrian government troops would “not have have been possible without massive Russian military support.”

The Russian government has “ignored all appeals,” Mr. Seibert said, and has also blocked the efforts of the U.N. Security Council.

Ms. Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday backed extending financial sanctions against Russia for its involvement in another international flashpoint, the conflict in Ukraine.

Meanwhile in Moscow, reality is setting in that the war has not been won for a long time, according to Russian political scientist Aschdar Kurtow. "In Syria, a complex conflict is going on. It is not just about one front against an outer conqueror, in which the fall of a large city furthers the course of events."

Instead, for Russia's government, it is about many short-term coalitions and changing fronts with are still at play, he added.

André Ballin is Handelsblatt's Russia correspondent. Spencer Kimball is an editor Handelsblatt Global. To contact the authors: [email protected], [email protected]