The first peace talks in two years collapsed last week before they began in the face of the government offensive, one of the biggest and most consequential of the five-year war.
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The gathering occurred amid deep differences between the US and Russian Federation over the timing and conditions of the truce – and a bitter argument over who is to blame for bombing civilian areas around Aleppo, a rebel stronghold.
The communique added that sustained humanitarian aid would begin this week to various besieged areas of Syria.
Russian Federation says it is supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government as part of a counterterrorism campaign.
The cease-fire would not include the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.
U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren, the Baghdad spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS, called the Russian claim “a fabrication” and said the incident was an example of Russia’s “indiscriminate” use of force.
Lavrov said peace talks should resume in Geneva as soon as possible and that all Syrian opposition groups should participate. They stalled last month before really starting, due largely to gains by Assad’s military with the heavy backing of Russian airstrikes.
Western officials suggest Washington has concerns about Russia’s ceasefire proposal and that no agreement has been reached.
But the West has accused Moscow of targeting more moderate groups that oppose Assad’s regime.
Speaking for the group, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the results as a significant accomplishment but noted that a cessation-of-hostilities agreement, if it can be achieved, would only be a “pause” in fighting and that more work would need to be done to turn it into a fully-fledged ceasefire.
Overall, the United Nations says nearly half a million people are besieged in Syria.
“Our buses and planes are not waiting there in vain”, he said, adding that Turkey had information that Iran-backed forces in Syria were carrying out “merciless massacres”.
Salem Meslet, spokesman for an opposition group, said that “we are with the political process but we have to see the humanitarian issues are solved”.
“We’re not only shocked, but also outraged, at what’s happened in terms of human suffering in the past few days for tens of thousands of people through bomb attacks, including attacks above all from Russia”, Merkel said. His peace push coincides with Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s attendance at a gathering in Brussels to hash out military options with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partners.
“Only, aviation of the anti-ISIS [Daesh] coalition flew over the city yesterday”, Konashenkov said in a statement.
The talks were temporarily suspended until February 25, but Russian deputy foreign minister Gatilov said Thursday that they could “possibly start earlier”.
“The warring parties in Syria are constantly sinking to new depths, without apparently caring in the slightest about the death and destruction they are wreaking across the country”, he said, pointing out that “women and children, the elderly, the wounded and sick, the people with disabilities are being used as bargaining chips and cannon fodder day after day, week after week, month after month”.
A large group of Islamic State militants, along with their leader Abu Maher, were killed in air attacks around the village of Kalaz Taktani.
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With Syrian troops backed by Russian warplanes waging a major offensive between the northern city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, the Kurds appeared to be exploiting the chaos to expand their nearby enclave, known as Afrin.
