Vladimir Putin defied the UN on Monday by ordering a series of brief daily ceasefires in the besieged enclave of Eastern Ghouta but refusing to meet the Security Council’s demand for a full 30-day truce across all of Syria. Nine days into an intensive bombing campaign which has killed more than 500 civilians, the Russian president said he would allow for a daily five-hour “humanitarian pause” starting Tuesday and lasting from 9am until 2pm each day. He also said Russia would begin setting up a “humanitarian corridor” to allow some of the 400,000 civilians inside Eastern Ghouta to leave the area for regime-held neighbourhoods. “On the instructions of the Russian president, with the goal of avoiding civilian casualties in Eastern Ghouta, from February 27 - tomorrow - from 9am to 2pm there will be a humanitarian pause,” said Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister. Mr Putin’s order came two days after all 15 members of the UN Security Council, including Russia, voted una...