Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters during a lunch break Friday that he thought the negotiations so far had been “excellent”.
Advertisement
Both Kerry and Lavrov said there were few issues that needed to be fleshed out before an agreement could be reached and warned that it could collapse unless a “period of calm” was established before the deal can be implemented.
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. “Neither of us is (ready) to make an announcement that is predicated by failure – we don’t want to have a deal for the sake of a deal”.
Russian Federation is one of Assad’s most important global backers while the United States supports Syria’s main opposition alliance and some rebels.
Those goals are not new, but recent developments have made achieving them even more urgent and important, USA officials said. “Nusra is Al-Qaeda, and no name change by Nusra hides what Nusra really is and what it tries to do”. Different from the United States, Russia is coordinating the actions by its air force against the terrorist groups with the Syrian Government.
Kerry added that once all the issues are resolved, UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura will bring the parties back to the table to negotiate a political transition.
The meeting marks yet another attempt to reach some agreement on easing the five-year conflict that has killed at least 250,000 people and spurred millions of Syrians to seek refuge in Europe.
Critically, Lavrov stressed the need of the opposition side in Syria to distance itself from terrorist organizations. Since then, the carnage in Syria has only increased, with Aleppo becoming a humanitarian disaster zone and aid still blocked to almost two dozen similarly besieged towns and cities.
The U.N. has been pushing for a 48-hour cease-fire in beleaguered Aleppo so humanitarian aid can be shipped into the city.
The statement came amid reports that rebel forces that have occupied the Damascus suburb of Darayya for four years have agreed to leave the town in exchange for evacuation of 8,000 remaining residents.
By reaching a deal with Russian Federation, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Washington hopes that it will help launch talks on a political transition in Syria.
Advertisement
Asked about the possibility for success, as the two shook hands and sat down in a Geneva lakeside hotel, Lavrov said, “I don’t want to spoil the atmosphere for the negotiations”. He said the Russian military’s reconciliation center in Syria has received a request from another area to organize a similar operation with Russian mediation.
