But U.S. officials said two Russian Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes were in the sky at the time of the strike.
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Syrian government aircraft were also nearby, he said. The bombing engulfed 18 of the 31 trucks in flames and killed 20 civilians, including Omar Barakat, the organization’s local director.
Mr Kerry questioned why rebel groups that are fighting the Russian backed Assad government would want to sit at the table and talk, when the regime “bombs hospitals and drops chlorine gas again and again and acts with impunity”.
However, Kerry says he still believes there is a way forward “out of the carnage” in Syria.
The administration’s evident willingness to overlook war crimes in its zeal to collaborate with Vladimir Putin was perhaps best explained by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson: The Kerry-Russia deal, he said, “is the only show in town”. Turkey sees the Kurds as a long-term political threat.
Asked about his methods, including the use of indiscriminate weapons, Assad said “when you have terrorists, you don’t throw at them balloons, or you don’t use rubber sticks for example”.
Russian Federation and the United States co-sponsored the ceasefire plan.
A ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russian Federation that was meant to clear the way for talks on ending Syria’s civil war appeared to have all but collapsed yesterday as Syrian rebels and pro-government forces battled each other on major front lines near Aleppo and Hama, and air strikes reportedly killed a dozen people, including four medical workers. The cease-fire envisioned a military partnership between the two countries against the Islamic State and al-Qaida if violence was reduced and aid delivered over the course of seven continuous days.
Despite the differences between Kerry and Lavrov, both agree that the US-Russian effort is the only way available to impose a ceasefire.
Republicans are skeptical, even hostile, to the idea that Russian Federation is a willing partner for peace and would work with the United States.
In a public session originally envisioned to enshrine Syria’s September 9 truce, world powers were left to rue the possibility of the conflict entering an even darker phase after a series of attacks on humanitarian workers.
The U.S. and aid agencies said the convoy was hit by an airstrike.
A senior USA administration official said the US believes with a very high degree of confidence that a Russian-piloted aircraft carried out the strike. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the issue publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The airstrike on a Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy Monday night prompted global condemnation over attacks targeting humanitarian facilities and workers. He urged ministers not to react emotionally, claiming that initial reports had pointed to an artillery attack and only afterward were there reports of strikes from a helicopter or aircraft.
In New York on Tuesday, Russian and US diplomats insisted that the cease-fire, which went into effect nine days ago, was not dead, despite soaring violence.
Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday at a U.N. Security Council meeting that a no-fly zone should be established over Syria. Clashes are intensifying in Syria, U.S. and Russian Federation have bickered over releasing details of their ceasefire deal and over a mistaken U.S. airstrike on Syrian soldiers, and now finger-pointing is dominating the aftermath of Monday’s attack.
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Kerry’s calls to ground flights come weeks after the USA defense department said it wanted less flights in the region, but refused to call it a no-fly zone.
