Ahead of a Wednesday meeting with the Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC) opposition group, the Foreign Secretary called on Russian Federation and the United States to help create a ceasefire. Duterte on Monday warned that Obama should not question him, during a scheduled meeting Tuesday, about extrajudicial killings in his country.
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A sit-down between Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also laid bare the two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies’ diverging interests in Syria, with Erdogan pointedly challenging Obama on USA support for Kurds fighting the Islamic State group in Syria.
The remarks ahead of Wednesday’s talks in London could be seen as a signal the Government is prepared to give stronger backing to the Syrian opposition.
“Our conversations with the Russians are key because if it were not for the Russians, then Assad and the regime would not be able to sustain its offensive”, he said, Press TV reported.
“There is still a lot to do in order to completely re-establish cooperation in all areas”, said Putin, after the bilateral meeting in Hangzhou on the eve of a G20 summit in the eastern Chinese city.
But the Gulf kingdom’s foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, told the BBC that he was not optimistic that Russian Federation and Iran were prepared to put the “necessary pressure” on the president “in order to comply with the will of the global community”.
After a meeting with President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in China on Monday, Barack Obama said they had been unable to close “gaps of trust”. Kerry said it remained to be seen whether the sides could agree on a deal.
The US administration’s supporters insist talking is much less risky than any military escalation, but critics argue that the constant diplomatic shuttle is not cost-free.
The five-year Syrian civil war has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced an estimated 11 million people.
“We have not been able to reach a clear understanding on a way forward”, Toner added.
“It would oblige Russian Federation to prevent warplanes from bombing areas held by the mainstream opposition, require the withdrawal of Damascus’s forces from a supply route north of Aleppo, and focus on the delivery of humanitarian aid, unhindered by warring sides, to the city’s population”, the agency quotes the letter as saying. Once the truce is in place for a specified time period, the Syrian air force is to be officially grounded. An agreement hinges on Russian Federation using its influence over Assad, and for Gulf states to convince opposition groups to take part. A deal might also open the way for the restoration of United Nations humanitarian convoys across Syria, and a ceasefire in Aleppo, where 250,000 civilians are still under the threat of starvation in the east of the city.
It also required the Syrian government and Russian Federation to avoid bombing opposition-held areas-including where more moderate insurgent groups are operating close to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, previously the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.
The northern city has been the scene of fierce battles between government forces and foreign-backed militants.
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Residents have begun returning to the border town of Jarablus, recaptured from IS by Turkish forces last month, although it has come at considerable cost with Turkish soldiers and Kurdish fighters supporting the US-led coalition among the scores killed.
