Volunteer first-responders said they pulled the bodies of nine people, including four children, from the rubble following air raids on a rebel-held area, after reports of helicopters dropping crude barrel bombs over the area on Friday.
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“It has the ability to stick, provided the regime and the opposition both meet their obligations, which we – and we expect other supporting countries – will strongly encourage them to do”, he added.
Kerry said this “new equation” offers an opportunity to find a peaceful solution and reverse the current trend of “creating more terrorists” and more destruction.
As with the previous ceasefire in February, this deal will not include either the Nusra Front or ISIS.
The final announcement included some last-minute drama as the press conference announcing the deal was delayed several times.
He later appeared to mock the U.S. delay saying, “It takes five hours for our friends to check with Washington”, and telling reporters, “I am sorry for you”. He then presented journalists with several boxes of pizza, saying, “This is from the US delegation”, and two bottles of vodka, adding, “This is from the Russian delegation”.
“We are all hoping for positive conclusions”.
The United States and Russian Federation, ultimately, are to find themselves fighting together against the Islamic State and Nusra, and embarking on unprecedented information-sharing – aimed at dispelling longstanding mistrust between the two powers over the Syria conflict.
However, US officials, including Defense Secretary Ash Carter and National Intelligence Director James Clapper, have criticized the intelligence-sharing deal, suggesting it could undermine American interests. They also disagree on which territory is controlled by whom.
The US wants a nationwide ceasefire in Syria between the regime and the rebels in order to create the conditions for UN-led political talks to end the five-year war.
While Kerry said all opposition groups needed to adhere to the ceasefire, he added that the agreement also stipulates how the regime “will not fly combat missions where the opposition is located”, calling it the bedrock of the cessation of hostilities.
Kerry and Lavrov met four times since a previous Geneva meeting on August 26, and Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin discussed the matter at a summit in China.
Perhaps reflecting these divisions, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday that internal USA discussions also were continuing.
Lavrov could later be seen milling about outside a hotel ballroom with aides and the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, all waiting for a joint news conference with Kerry.
But both President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter have had tough words for Russian Federation in recent days, dimming the prospect of a deal on a ceasefire and closer military cooperation.
In a speech this week in Britain, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter accused Russian Federation of sowing seeds of global instability and questioned whether Moscow genuinely wants a viable cease-fire in Syria.
The decision to deepen cooperation with Moscow was already controversial, given the Obama administration’s public criticism of Russia’s role in Syria.
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Staffan de Mistura warned earlier on Friday that food and water shortages made the situation in Aleppo even more serious than previously, and that fuel supplies could run out within days. “I think in the meantime if we can get humanitarian aid to some of these places that are suffering, I mean that’s a win, but at the end of the day, Syria will not make a successful transition to a reasonable government until Assad agrees to leave”.
