Obama acknowledged “gaps of trust” between the rival powers following months of negotiations between their top diplomats.
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Moscow says Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will talk again in Geneva on Thursday – US officials say only that they hope to meet “very soon”.
“We’re not going to rush”, said Kerry, who has negotiated several failed truces with Russian Federation over the last months.
“It is worth trying, “Obama said to reporters”.
Obama said on Sunday that Russian participation was essential. Kerry and Lavrov were consulting with their governments ahead of Monday’s continuation of discussions.
Hijab said the greatest challenge in achieving political transition came from the outside powers, pointing the finger at Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, other regional militias, and above all, Russian Federation for protecting Assad.
Still, as Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended an economic summit, the leaders were under pressure to push the negotiations beyond the sticking points that have thus far prevented a deal.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that new U.S. sanctions over the Ukraine crisis have hampered joint efforts by both sides to resolve “regional conflicts” – a reference to the Syria war.
Syrian activists say at least 10 civilians have been killed in a new airstrike on the neighborhood where a suspected chlorine gas attack struck the previous day.
The initiative presented by the High Negotiations Committee [HNC], an umbrella of opposition groups backed by western powers and Gulf states, was released as the USA and Russian Federation struggled to agree on a deal meant to bring about a ceasefire.
He added: “There is still a chance that this vision can be made to work”.
After many failed attempts at convincing Russian Federation to abandon its support for Assad, this is a last ditch effort by the Obama Administration to stop the killing and flow of refugees from Syria.
“The secretary remains committed to continuing efforts to try and resolve the outstanding issues in order to reach an arrangement on Syria. but we won’t agree to an arrangement that does not meet our core objectives”, Toner said. “We’ve got to figure out how to make certain both of us can be comfortable with the resolution to those issues, so that’s what we’re working on”.
But the recent military successes by forces loyal to the president have hardened his unwillingness to step down. The US has supplied Turkey with military hardware to carry out the operation. Erdogan blames him for plotting the coup. He says the USA will take the time needed to ensure the agreement has the best chance for success.
U.S. officials have never publicly confirmed what Kerry had in mind when he floated the idea of a Plan B for Syria in congressional hearings earlier this year.
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While Carter’s remarks followed hacking attacks on Democratic Party organizations in the lead-up to the November 8 USA election, his comments appeared to also reflect diverging policies in Syria.
