Washington backs the uprising against Assad, but is working with the Syrian leader’s key ally Moscow on a deal to stem the bloodshed.
Advertisement
Mr Obama described talks with Mr Putin as tough but “productive” after their meeting at the G20 summit in China.
The blasts come as high-level talks between the United States and Russian Federation aimed at ending violence in Syria ended without an agreement, a U.S. official said Monday. US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are expected to continue the talks in the coming days. Putin told journalists there was a convergence of views between Russian Federation and the United States. Putin meanwhile said he felt there was “some alignment of positions and an understanding of what we could do to de-escalate the situation in Syria”. Tartous has been largely spared the worst violence of Syria’s conflict since it began with anti-government protests, and has become a refuge for many Syrians fleeing the fighting. He said it was premature to give details about the terms of an agreement, but that the two nations would strengthen cooperation on fighting terrorism.
Syria’s cabinet said the attacks were a response to the recapture on Sunday by the army and its allies of a district of Aleppo that insurgents had seized last month, reinstating a siege on rebel-held parts of the city.
Mr Assad’s gains have relied heavily on Russian air support since September past year.
Adding to the carnage, six blasts on Monday hit west of Damascus and the government-held cities of Homs and Tartous, as well as the Kurdish-controlled northeastern province of Hasaka, state media and a monitoring group said.
Islamic State’s media outlet Amaq said the attacks were suicide operations targeting the Syrian government and a Kurdish security force.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also at the G20, said he had urged world powers to create a “safe zone” in Syria, with a “no-fly” element, that would help control the flow of migrants.
A double bombing hit the Arzuna bridge in the northwestern coastal city of Tartus. The governor of Homs province says a auto bomb struck a military checkpoint in the provincial capital, Homs, killing two soldiers and injuring four others, one critically. SANA said the attack killed one person, while the opposition-run Observatory said three people were killed.
In Hassakeh, an explosives-packed motorcycle was blown up at the Marsho roundabout, killing five civilians and injuring two others, Sana said. He said a deal with Washington could be firmed up in the “coming days” but refused to give concrete details, saying that United States and Russian officials are still “working out some of our preliminary agreements”.
Syrians and security forces gather at the site of a blast targeting the Arzuna Bridge in a government-held area outside this Syrian city yesterday.
Advertisement
Reports say blasts also happened in the city of Homs and on a road outside Damascus. The city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, is largely under government control, with only one neighborhood still held by rebels. The YPG controls swathes of northern Syria where Kurdish groups have established de facto autonomy since the start of the Syrian war, much to the alarm of neighbouring Turkey, which fears the creation of a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria would fuel Kurdish separatist ambitions at home.
