US Drone Spotted in Area of UN Aid Attack in Syria, Russia Says

A U.S. Predator drone was in the area where a U.N. aid convoy was partially destroyed in Syria Monday and had appeared on the scene minutes before the incident, the Russian defense ministry said Wednesday amid an emergency meeting of the U.N.’s 15-member Security Council.

RELATED:
Syria Truce 'Will Not Hold Out' Says Senior Rebel Source

Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the ministry, said the drone had taken off from the Incirlik air base in Turkey, arrived in the area a few minutes before the convoy had caught fire, and left about 30 minutes later.

"Only the drone's owners know what it was doing there at the necessary moment and what tasks it was carrying out," Konashenkov said in a statement, saying Russia was not drawing any conclusions about the drone's presence. He noted that such drones were armed with air-to-ground missiles.

Russia denied carrying out the strike on the Syrian Red Crescent aid convoy Monday which killed at least two people, saying the the U.S. "has no facts" to back up their accusations.

Russian planes were not in the area at the time and had not made any air strikes there, Konashenkov added, saying Moscow had informed the United States of that the same evening as the incident took place.

Speaking at the Security Council, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a "thorough and impartial investigation" into the convoy attack.

OPINION:
Syrian Endgame: Aleppo and ‘Plan C’

Meanwhile the U.N., which initially said the convoy was hit by an airstrike, Tuesday backtracked from this statement. "We are not in a position to determine whether these were in fact airstrikes. We are in a position to say that the convoy was attacked," U.N. humanitarian spokesman Jens Laerke said.

The U.S. Air Force bombed the Syrian Arab Army's positions Saturday, killing at least 62 soldiers. Russia responded by saying that this actually aided Islamic State group militants in the area, while Moscow also denounced Washington's refusal to take measures to force rebels under its control to fall in line with the terms of the Syrian cease-fire.

The truce brokered by the U.S. and Russia took effect on Sept. 12 as part of a deal meant to facilitate aid access to besieged areas. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the Syrian war was “the greatest humanitarian catastrophe since World World II.”

Kerry stressed that "the future of Syria is hanging by a thread," adding that "those who believe that the crisis in Syria cannot become even worse are dead wrong." Kerry further called for grounding all aircraft in Syria's north to allow humanitarian aid to get through.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said that "no one will benefit from a continuation of this conflict."