GENEVA (AP) – Russia’s foreign minister says he is thinking of “calling it a day” on talks with the United States to forge a cease-fire in Syria.
Advertisement
The US and Russian Federation support opposite sides in the conflict that began in 2011: Washington backs a coalition of rebel groups it describes as moderate, while Moscow is seen as a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“Going after Nusra is not a concession to anybody, it is profoundly in the interest of the United States to target al Qaeda”, Kerry said, saying the group was planning attacks both in and outside of Syria, including attacks directed at the US.
“The United States is going the extra mile here because we believe that Russian Federation and my colleague have the capability to press the Assad regime to stop this conflict and come to the table and make peace”, Kerry said.
The cease-fire begins at sundown September 12, Kerry said, coinciding with the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.
The ceasefire will be followed by an unlikely new military partnership between the rival governments targeting Islamic State and al Qaida. In exchange for getting Mr Assad’s air forces out of the skies, the United States and Russian Federation would work together to identify acceptable targets and then approve strikes.
The agreement came after hours of internal deliberations within the Obama administration over whether to accept the terms of the deal. “We have agreed on the zones in which these strikes will be carried out”.
“That should put an end to the barrel bombs, an end to the indiscriminate bombing of civilian neighborhoods”, Kerry said.
Lavrov said that Russian Federation has informed the Syrian government about the arrangements and the regime is ready to fulfill them.
The second USA official said one of the reasons Kerry had kept up the effort was because the Syrian opposition supported it as a way to stop the worst violence in their country.
The plan would need both the regime and opposition “to meet their obligations”, Mr Kerry said in Geneva.
After the Geneva announcement, Pentagon secretary Peter Cook offered a guarded endorsement of the arrangement and cautioned, “We will be watching closely the implementation of this understanding in the days ahead”. He then presented journalists with several boxes of pizza, saying, “This is from the US delegation”, and two bottles of vodka, adding, “This is from the Russian delegation”.
The US wants a nationwide ceasefire in Syria between the regime and the rebels in order to create the conditions for UN-led political talks to end the five-year war.
Mr Kerry’s proposal for military cooperation with Russian Federation over Syria has faced resistance from USA defence and intelligence officials, who argue that Moscow can not be trusted.
Part of the plan would include a ban on the government flying combat missions where opposition forces are present.
Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin also recently held lengthy face-to-face talks in China.
Advertisement
Pro-regime forces have taken back a strategically important district on Aleppo’s southern outskirts, rolling back almost every gain from a month-long rebel offensive there.
