The US secretary of state John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov have for weeks been trying to broker a deal to curb the violence between the Assad’s government forces, which are allied with Russia, and moderate rebels backed by the US.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow and Washington may soon reach an agreement on ways to reduce violence in Syria, following a meeting with United States counterpart Barack Obama.
The comments were made a day after Obama said the USA and Russian Federation had deep differences with regard to the parties they support in Syria as well as the process to bring peace there.
Xi and Obama met in Hangzhou in eastern China where leaders from the world’s 20 leading economies, the G20, were gathering for a summit on Sunday and Monday. Any deal would depend on Moscow using its influence with Syrian President Bashar Assad to persuade the Syrian leader to ground planes and stop the assault on opposition forces.
Today’s article said the USA and China signing the deal is an “incredibly significant act towards the treaty coming into force, as it requires at least 55 countries that together account for at least 55 per cent of global emissions”.
The Obama administration’s latest effort to broker a cease-fire in Syria fell short Monday, after a 90-minute meeting between President Barack Obama and President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting failed to resolve snags between the United States and Russian Federation. Extremist groups are operating and recruiting in the chaotic landscape.
Moscow and Washington support different sides in Syria’s festering conflict that has left 290,000 dead, with Russian Federation backing Mr Assad while the U.S. supports rebel groups fighting him.
The two leaders discussed Syria and Ukraine before moving on to a one-on-one talk, Peskov said, noting that the meeting went well.
It’s unclear what, exactly, is holding up an agreement.
Meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 meeting here, Obama emphasized the humanitarian importance and urgent need for a ceasefire but was adamant about not striking an agreement that wouldn’t meet his long-term objectives in Syria, a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The president declined to directly answer a reporter’s questions about Russia’s alleged hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s emails, citing an ongoing investigation, but he acknowledged tensions.
The hard diplomacy on Syria set the tone for an uneven few days for Obama on his last tour through Asia as president.
There was even a joint announcement by China and United States that they would ratify the Paris climate change agreement, a significant step for the world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases.
Negotiators failed to work through differences, and the talks have ended for now.
The US hopes to align with Russian Federation to identify terrorist targets, including ISIS and the Nusra Front, a group formerly tied to al-Qaeda. The Kurds are the most effective US-backed anti-ISIL force, but the Turks consider them to be terrorists.
Beijing wants to control large areas of the disputed region in the South China Sea.
Obama “made clear to president Putin that sanctions will continue on Russian Federation if Minsk is not fully implemented”, the White House pool reported.
As the president was greeted by his Chinese hosts, Obama’s aides and accompanying journalists clashed with a Chinese official as they tried to watch the ceremony.
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The Chinese state media was quick to criticise India.
