Kerry says experts will remain in Geneva with an eye toward finalising the unresolved steps in the coming days.
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Kerry first made the truce and coordination proposal during a visit to Moscow last month.
In a nod to previous failed attempts to resurrect the cessation of hostilities, Kerry stressed the importance of keeping the details secret.
“We achieved clarity on the path forward”, Kerry told reporters at a briefing Friday, adding that the ultimate goal was to get all sides to the table “so we can have a serious negotiation about how to end this war”.
“As we have all seen now, violations eventually became the norm rather than the exception”, Kerry said.
Yet the comments by Kerry and Lavrov also reflect how the two countries remain far apart on big issues, including Assad’s fate and the USA insistence that his forces, as well as Russia’s, not target moderate opposition groups as they pursue the Nusra and Islamic State, whose headquarters are in the Syrian city of Raqqa. “There has been some limited engagement, as everybody knows, with a component of Kurd fighters on a limited basis, and we cooperated very closely with – with Turkey specifically to make sure that there was a clearer understanding of the rules by which that engagement would take place”.
“The talks were aimed at getting a final deal on cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, brokering a ceasefire for 48 hours to alleviate the suffering of the people in Aleppo, and to try and get the political process in Syria – the Geneva peace talks – back on track”.
Russian Federation has said it can not agree until the United States and its coalition partners are able to sufficiently separate the rebel groups they back from the terrorist fighters in areas where they overlap.
The talks have been complicated since initial meetings in July by new government attacks on opposition groups, and a significant offensive in the southern part of the divided city of Aleppo led by opposition fighters intermingled with the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate.
Those goals are not new, but recent developments have made achieving them even more urgent and important, according to United States officials. Recent developments include military operations around the city of Aleppo, the entry of Turkey into the ground war, Turkish hostility toward USA -backed Kurdish rebel groups and the presence of American military advisers in widening conflict zones.
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting a number of opposition factions and extremist groups.
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Meanwhile, in a blow to opposition forces, rebels and civilians in the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya were evacuated on August 26 after agreeing to surrender the town after four years of grueling bombardment and a crippling siege that left the sprawling area in ruins.
