Earlier, Mr Kerry said talks are closer to extending a Syrian truce to Aleppo, the divided northern city where sharp escalation of violence in recent weeks has torpedoed peace talks and left a ceasefire in tatters.
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Meanwhile, talks to enforce peace in Syria were ongoing in Geneva, where US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Arab foreign ministers and the UN’s Syria Envoy, Staffan de Mistura.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has called on Syrian government forces and rebel groups to declare a ceasefire, particularly in Aleppo, as intense fighting continues to ravage the city.
The top U.S. diplomat gave some of his most downbeat comments yet after meeting the United Nations peace envoy on Syria, saying the conflict was “in many ways out of control and deeply disturbing to everybody in the world, I hope”.
As diplomatic efforts intensified, the violence continued in Aleppo Monday with residents reporting new air strikes on the rebel-held eastern parts of the city.
“It’s a violation of all the understandings that were reached in – during the Vienna process”, Al-Jubeir said. “The world is not going to allow them to get away with this”, al-Jubeir said in Geneva on Monday. He said that Syrian President Bashar Assad would be held accountable for the attacks and would be removed from power either through a political process or by force.
More than 250 civilians have been killed in Aleppo in the last 10 days.
“SAVE ALEPPO” A Syrian girl holds a placard during a rally in solidarity with Aleppo, in the Lebanese northern port city of Tripoli, on May 1, 2016.
Kerry said both sides of the conflict have “contributed to this chaos”, adding that the United States and Russian Federation, who helped mediate the cease-fire, have ordered additional personnel in Geneva to facilitate in peace talks efforts.
Kerry said there could be no “legitimate political talks” until both parties carried out the agreement – a full cessation of hostilities throughout the country and the nationwide delivery of humanitarian aid.
“Aleppo has been experiencing extreme conflict for four years now and 95 percent of the medical staff in the city has quite understandably already fled”, Sam Taylor of the global aid organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said from Jordan.
More than 270,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests demanding Assad’s ouster.
Kerry held the Syrian Army responsible for attacks on hospitals and civilians amid the escalating violence in Aleppo city but made clear that “both sides – the opposition and the regime – have contributed to this chaos”.
“Currently, active negotiations are underway to establish a “regime of silence” in Aleppo province” – the head of Moscow’s coordination centre in Syria Lieutenant General Sergei Kuralenko says talks to include Aleppo in the ceasefire have begun.
Syria’s offensive in Aleppo is based on a UN Security Council resolution which accepts Syria’s right to fighting terrorists.
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Zouhir al-Shimale, a local journalist, said an air strike on the Helluk neighbourhood wounded several people, while at least three people were killed in barrel-bomb attacks in the countryside area of Kafr Hamra.
