“As we have all seen now, violations eventually became the norm rather than the exception”, Kerry said, discussing the original cease-fire reached in February.
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Washington and Moscow made key steps towards agreeing a new ceasefire in Syria, but a final deal has not been reached, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart said after talks Friday.
The U.S. and Russian Federation renewed efforts to secure a military and humanitarian cooperation agreement for war-torn Syria as conditions on the ground continued to deteriorate after months of hesitation, missed deadlines and failed attempts to forge a nationwide truce. Turkey’s recent decision to intervene militarily in Syria also highlights the nature of the conflict as a proxy war between regional powers.
Kerry explained that United States and Russian experts would continue to meet in Geneva in the coming days to pour over a set of unresolved issues in hopes of striking a durable deal. “But we are not going to rush to an agreement until it satisfies fully the needs of the Syrian people”. The US, meanwhile, accuses Russian Federation of deliberately targeting Western-backed fighters. Lavrov said after the talks that there is “better mutual understanding of this issue” between the two countries, Sputnik reported.
A U.S. -Russian military and intelligence working group agreed over the past several weeks on maps demarcating the primary locations of the Islamic State and the Front, places where those groups are mixed with U.S. -backed rebel fighters, and areas primarily populated by civilians.
On August 18, the Russian Defense Ministry welcomed UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura’s proposal for a 48-hour pause in fighting in Aleppo and expressed readiness to implement the first 48-hour humanitarian pause to supply the city with aid as a “pilot project”. After missing an initial target date of Aug. 1, de Mistura had hoped to restart the intra-Syrian discussions toward political transition in late August.
There had been hopes of a definitive announcement to stem the fighting in the war-torn country and on proceeding to a new round of UN-brokered peace talks. However, as in Moscow, neither Kerry nor Lavrov would describe them in detail.
In a nod to previous failed attempts to resurrect the cessation of hostilities, Kerry stressed the importance of keeping the details secret. “We do not support an independent Kurd initiative”, Kerry said, pointing out that the American forces have been engaging in cooperation with “a component” of the Kurdish forces on a “very limited basis”. “Until we have, neither of us are prepared to make an announcement that is predicated for failure”.
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“We believe there are actions that can be taken to deal with the current construct, some of those involve other nations that are supportive of other opposition groups”.
