While John Kerry said that Russia-US plan was “far from ideal”, he noted that there was no alternative to a peaceful solution in Syria.
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“Kerry knows that you can not get to first base politically in Syria in the direction of a solution unless you get civilians off the bull’s-eye”, Ambassador Frederic C. Hof, a former special adviser for the transition in Syria who is now a director at the Atlantic Council, told an editorial writer.
The 23-nation International Syria Support Group was to decide if it is worth trying to revive a shaky truce that collapsed on Monday amid bitter diplomatic recriminations.
“The devastating sustained attack at our convoy at Big Urem outside Aleppo this Monday is the worst attack ever sustained on a cross-line, cross-border convoy”, Egeland said on Thursday.
“You are radiating what I think is a legitimate pessimism”, Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, had told reporters before the meeting of the 23-nation International Syria Support Group in NY on Thursday night.
“It’s going to be hard. We’ll see what people are willing to do”.
Assad, whose forces earlier this week resumed hostilities after the failure of a US-Russian agreed ceasefire, said: “If there really is a siege around Aleppo, people would have been dead by now”.
Had the truce held, Russian Federation and the United States were due to exchange information about targets in Syria. He also said a USA -led coalition airstrike that killed more than 60 Syrian troops in the eastern Deir el-Zour province was “not an accident”.
“We are moving into a new cycle in the Syrian crisis, which threatens to become a proxy war between Russian Federation and the USA”, said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the Russian Federation in Global Politics journal.
France is pushing the Security Council to impose sanctions on Syria based on the findings of the report, but other diplomats have privately expressed concern that the probe could be shelved as part of US-Russian negotiations on Syria.
The sparring partners met twice overnight ahead of the ISSG meeting to try to move their positions closer, but United States officials cautioned against hope of a new deal.
As the besieged city of Aleppo suffered its heaviest air strikes in months, the Foreign Secretary said Moscow was waging a “proxy war” in the country.
The Aleppo Media Centre said the fires were caused by “incendiary phosphorus bombs”.
In footage posted by the group, a ball of flame shoots up over the city, lighting up the skyline.
Activists say at least 12 people were killed in presumed government or Russian airstrikes and shelling on the eastern quarters on Thursday. “Prioritising diplomacy above all else is a courageous and laudable foundation, but when it’s consistently failed to produce anything good for five years in a row, perhaps it’s time to consider new and more assertive measures?”
A man carries an injured child after airstrikes on the rebel-held al-Qaterji neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria Sept. 21, 2016.
They say the suicide was wearing an explosives belt which he detonated among the officials.
“Forty lorries are sitting at the Turkish-Syrian border”. That operation, dubbed “Euphrates Shield” by Turkey, was launched after months of attacks on Kilis reduced parts of the town to rubble.
Key players in the Syrian peace process were to meet in NY later on Thursday, with the clock ticking down as the United Nations warned that undelivered aid for besieged civilians in Aleppo would expire in four days.
– Talks in “next few weeks”?
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“It’s the only way to ease the suffering and it’s the only way to make possible the restoration of a united Syria”, Kerry said.
