The Syrian army’s declaration of the offensive coincided with global meetings on Syria in NY, the latest diplomatic efforts officially meant to revive the truce, which was brokered by the United States and Russian Federation. The nation’s top military.
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And he said the USA “doesn’t have the will” to join Russian Federation in fighting Islamic militants in his country.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it is “a large-scale land offensive supported by Russian air strikes aimed at taking bit by bit the eastern sector of Aleppo and emptying it of its residents”.
A Russian military spokesman said a US -led coalition Predator drone was in the area at the time.
“The only way to achieve that is if the ones that have the air power in that part of the conflict simply stop using it”, he said as the meeting in NY broke up.
No one spoke of being able to quickly resuscitate the ceasefire.
Kerry added that he is “no less determined today than I was yesterday, but I am even more frustrated”.
Asked whether arming the Syrian Kurds is a viable military option, despite the Turkish government’s opposition, Dunford said “reinforcing” the Syrian Democratic Forces’ military capabilities “will increase the prospects of our success” in enabling the recapture of Raqqa, the defacto Islamic State capital in Syria.
A senior State Department official speaking to the media on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly said it is impossible to say a cease-fire is in effect when Syrian forces are conducting a renewed offensive on Aleppo.
Kerry and Lavrov agreed they would continue consultations Friday.
The Russian military spokesman said that the U.S. and its allies in the coalition were making the allegations against Moscow to distract attention from a deadly strike against Syrian regime forces over the weekend.
“We have exchanged ideas with the Russians and we plan to consult tomorrow with respect to those ideas”, Kerry told reporters on Thursday.
The opposition says such agreements are part of a regime strategy to forcibly displace populations from opposition-held areas after years of siege and bombardment.
Aleppo has seen some of the bitterest fighting in recent months, including the recent bombing of a United Nations convoy that killed at least 12 aid workers and 20 civilians.
The International Syria Support Group, including Moscow, Washington and other major powers, met on the sidelines of the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders in NY.
The State Department’s spokesman has dismissed claims made by Syrian President Bashar Assad during an interview with The Associated Press as “ridiculous”, adding they show that Assad has lost his legitimacy to govern.
“Those convoys were in the area of the militants, the area under the control of the terrorists”.
Lavrov had sought a three-day pause in fighting to revive the cease-fire.
The Syrian military, which is backed by the Russian air force, said late on Thursday that it was starting a new operation against the rebel-held east, which is home to at least 250,000 people. Lavrov pushed only for all sides to recommit to the September 9 truce, according to officials.
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At the UN, Assad’s other major supporter also rejected the US-led call for aircraft to be grounded.
