Aid airdrops to besieged areas in Syria are not expected to begin immediately, the United Nations said Thursday, despite urgent calls from France and Britain for deliveries to get started.

"As long as the World Food Programme has not yet finalised its plans, I don't think there's something imminent, but I think the process that will lead to air drops has already started," Ramzi Ezzedine Ramzi, the deputy to UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, told reporters.

Source: AFP