Russia calls for an immediate halt to all violence in Syria and for the conflicting sides to maintain the ceasefire, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ministry’s statement comes in the wake of the bloody terrorist attack in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo on Sunday. A car loaded with explosives blew up near two hospitals, killing 17 and wounding over 40 people, who were all civilians.

“We condemn terrorist attacks, whose victims are innocent people. It is necessary to immediately stop all violence and simultaneously stop fire by all sides,” the ministry said in a statement.

The statement also said that Russia calls on other countries that have influence with the armed opposition in Syria, to persuade them to stop terrorist attacks, “which bring death and pain to civilians.”

Since it began with demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in March 2011, the Syrian conflict has escalated into a full-scale civil war that has claimed up to 20,000 lives, according to estimates by various Syrian opposition groups.