UN peace envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Thursday vowed to press on with efforts for a truce in Aleppo, adding that wanted a resolution of the devastating conflict this year.
De Mistura, a Swedish-Italian diplomat appointed as UN envoy on Syria in July, said the second city of Aleppo was a "symbolic microcosm of all of Syria".
This was so "because it has the highest number of displaced people, because it has seen two years of suffering, because while the government and the opposition continue being involved in heavy fighting between them, ISIS is only 20 miles away from Aleppo", he said, referring to the Islamic State group.
"I am just determined to raise the fact that Aleppo cannot be abandoned," he said.
"We are engaged in intense discussions with the government... and the opposition regarding the freeze," he said.
De Mistura said the international community had to make sure that the Syrian conflict did not go in a "backburner," adding: "Movement towards some kind of political solution should take place this year."