Intense and ongoing airstrikes targeting rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Thursday killed 20 people and destroyed the Syrian city’s main water pumping station, an activist with the opposition-aligned Aleppo Media Center (AMC) told CNN.
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No meetings have been set with the Russian delegation so far for Friday, the official said, adding, “the ball is very much in the Russians’ court” to come forward with proposals.
“The simple reality is that we can’t resolve a crisis if one side is unwilling to do what is necessary to avoid escalation”.
A furious Kerry then told the entire room, Lavrov included, that “even while we are meeting here, they are doing this”, said the official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.
The Assad regime’s key ally Russian Federation said last week that the White Helmets could have been involved in the deadly attack on a humanitarian aid convoy near Aleppo, suggesting the group had links to al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, before later suggesting it was an American drone that carried out the strike.
Sergei Lavrov and John Kerry on September 22. “We’re evaluating some mutual ideas in a constructive way”, Kerry said on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. Russian Federation has denied responsibility, while raising a range of ulterior scenarios for how the caravan might have been struck.
The Syrian army announced on Monday the end of the week-long ceasefire, without extending it, as part of the Syrian government dismay with the USA -led attack against Syrian military positions in Deir al-Zour earlier this week, which killed 90 Syrian soldiers, and the violations the rebels were said to have committed during the truce time.
“We hold the Russian government responsible for airstrikes in this airspace given their commitment under the cessation of hostilities was to ground air operations where humanitarian assistance was flowing”, Rhodes said.
America said the intended target had been Islamic State forces in the area.
American officials described the two-and-a-half-hour meeting in the Palace Hotel as “contentious”.
An official who requested anonymity commented that the truce has always depended on Russian Federation but the United States doubts whether Moscow and Damascus are willing to take the kind of steps Washington demands from them.
“So please, President Assad, do your bit to enable us get to eastern Aleppo and also the other besieged areas”.
But the president said: ‘Whatever they say, it’s just lies’.
“This course has no foundation, no logic”, said Mr Rouhani, whose country has directed Iranian troops and Hezbollah forces in support of Assad. “Believe me, there are a lot of people who believe it can’t happen, and there are some people who believe that major parties don’t want it done”, Kerry said.
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More than 300,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.
