“It is the primary responsibility of the leading powers, first of all Russian Federation and the United States to do everything to create the necessary conditions to settle this very hard conflict despite all the problems that have arisen”, Lavrov said.After weeks of negotiations, the USA and Russian Federation finally reached an agreement on ceasefire in Syria which could possibly bring the two countries together in the fight against Islamic State.
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Russia, for its part, has said it wants to make sure that the USA separates terrorist groups from opposition fighters in cities like Aleppo, where regime forces and the Syrian oppositionhave engaged in intensified clashes in recent months.
U. S Secretary of State John Kerry said in a press conference that the plan could be a potential “turning point” in the five-year war that resulted in the deaths of almost 500,000 people.
The agreement was announced by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva yesterday.
The United States and Russian Federation, ultimately, are to find themselves fighting together against the Islamic State group and Nusra, and embarking on unprecedented information-sharing – aimed at dispelling longstanding mistrust between the two powers over the Syria conflict.
With Syrian government airstrikes halted, there’s a potential to “change the nature of the conflict”, Kerry said, noting that the strikes have been the main driver of casualties and migration flows.
It had looked like a deal would not be forthcoming on Friday night, with Mr Lavrov blaming Washington for the impasse. Then, the US and Russian Federation would begin intelligence sharing and targeting coordination, while Assad’s air and ground forces would no longer be permitted to target Fath al-Sham; they would be restricted to operations against the Islamic State.
The US and Russian Federation have announced a breakthrough agreement on Syria that foresees a nationwide ceasefire starting early next week.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Kerry and Lavrov discussed the possibility during a phone call on Thursday. -Russian interaction has upset several leading national security officials in Washington, including Defense Secretary Ash Carter and National Intelligence Director James Clapper, and Kerry only appeared at the news conference after several hours of internal US discussions.
In a clear attempt to pressure the USA into greater urgency, Mr Lavrov had joked that “it takes five hours for our friends to check with Washington”.
Mr Kerry outlined several steps the government and rebels would have to take. He then presented journalists with several boxes of pizza, saying: “This is from the United States delegation”, and two bottles of vodka, adding: “This is from the Russian delegation”.
“We need to see a situation where it’s clear within whatever is being agreed with the Russians that there won’t be a siege of Aleppo”, a second senior official traveling with Mr. Kerry said.
The Geneva negotiating session lasted more than 13 hours and capped a flurry of meetings between the two diplomats in recent days. “If Aleppo continues to be torn apart, the prospects for Syria and its people are grim”.
Getting Assad’s government and rebel groups to comply with the deal may now be more hard as fighting rages around Aleppo. He said that the Syrian regime has been informed of the plan and is prepared to comply. Russian Federation could, in theory, threaten to act against rebel groups that break the deal.
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At least 15 civilians were Friday killed in tit-for-tat attacks in the divided northern city of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
