The UN Security Council met Wednesday for crisis talks on Syria as air raids shook Aleppo and diplomatic tensions ran high over an attack on an aid convoy.
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The US blames Russian Federation for carrying out a deadly air strike on a United Nations aid convoy on Monday in northern Syria after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military declared the ceasefire over.
Despite the differences between Kerry and Lavrov, both agree that the US-Russian effort is the only way available to impose a ceasefire.
An airstrike in northern Syria killed four medics responding to an earlier bombing raid, a relief group said Wednesday, as the United Nations announced it would resume aid deliveries suspended after an attack on a convoy two days ago that killed 20 people.
“Supposedly we all want the same goal”.
First a United States-led airstrike on Saturday, meant to hit Islamic State positions, instead killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers.
The US believes Monday’s convoy airstrike, which killed 20 workers, was carried out by a Russian jet.
Kerry dismissed Russia’s denial of blame in the convoy attack after citing several contradictory statements from different Russian officials – including that damage to the convoy occurred because the cargo caught fire.
A USA official said the attack on the United Nations convoy “raises very serious questions about whether the Russians can deliver their end of the arrangement” to rein in the Syrian regime. His pleas crossed paths with another statement by Russia’s government, this time suggesting a US coalition Predator drone was operating nearby when the convoy attack occurred. Aircraft from Syria, Russia and the USA -led coalition are targeting the Fatah al-Sham Front, which along with the Islamic State group was excluded from the cease-fire.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry urged the grounding of all aircraft over parts of Syria to allow aid to reach civilians. It was unclear if Russian Federation and Syria would agree. He told The Associated Press in Paris on Wednesday that the team was bombed while responding to an earlier airstrike targeting militants from the al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front. Much of the worldwide community hailed that outcome, only to watch it unravel amid an upsurge in violence that included an accidental US strike that killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers.
Lavrov, whose country has helped the Syrian government shore up its position, said the US bore the biggest responsibility for peace by separating opposition forces from terrorists. He called for the U.N.to expand its terrorism list to include groups at the fringes of a USA -backed rebel umbrella group and called Washington’s errant strike an “outrageous violation”.
The Russian also cited a series of truce violations by US -backed rebel groups near the northern city of Aleppo.
Outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon gave what many consider to be his strongest speech ever, saying “we are at a make or break moment”.
His peace envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, described his long-delayed plans for a multi-step Syrian peace process and transition that appeared, even by his own admission, untethered to reality on the ground.
A further attack on Tuesday night killed five medical workers for an global aid agency.
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“I think that this is a reflection of the position which has been taken by Washington regarding the responsibility of Damascus and how they maintain that the Russian side was responsible for the attack on the humanitarian convoy”, said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, according to TASS.
