The United States and Russia failed to reach an agreement for a 48-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the northern Syrian town of Aleppo and for a wider military cooperation against Islamic militants in the war-torn country. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, addressing a joint news conference in Geneva, said that their respective experts would continue to hash out details in coming days to try and reach a breakthrough.
“We don’t want to have a deal for the sake of a deal. We want to have something done that is effective and that works for the people of Syria, that makes the region more stable and secure, and that brings us to the table here in Geneva to find a political solution,” said Kerry. The talks between Kerry and Lavrov came as Western-backed opposition groups effectively surrendered the Damascus suburb of Daraya to the Russian backed government of President Bashar Assad after a four-year siege.
“Aleppo continues to be besieged and bombarded by the regime and its allies – including Iran, Russia and Hezbollah – and the regime just today forced the surrender of Daraya after a brutal four years of the siege and continues to take territory in the Damascus suburbs, which I might add runs counter to two iterations of a previously announced cessation of hostilities which is what brings us here today. That’s why we’re here,” continued Kerry. Discussions in Geneva have been complicated in part by a significant offensive in the southern part of the divided city of Aleppo led by some US-backed opposition groups that have allied with the Nusra Front, which is an al-Qaeda affiliated militant group operating in Syria.
Russian sources told TV7 that as long as the al-Qaeda linked group continues to fight along-side opposition forces that are backed by the United States against Assad’s military, Moscow will not seize its operations against the rebel forces.
Meanwhile, Secretary Kerry emphasized that Washington is aware of the situation and that the Nusra Fronts’ recent efforts to distance themselves from al-Qaeda would not change the way the group is viewed by the United States.
“Nusra is a designated terrorist organization. Nusra is Al Qaeda. And no name change by Nusra hides what Nusra really is and what it tries to do.” / “what we are talking about is that the aviation in the Syrian sky to be efficient in this fight against ISIL (Islamic State) and Jabhat al-Nusra,” Kerry added. Both Kerry and Lavrov said there were a few issues that needed to be fleshed out after their meeting over the weekend, before an agreement could be reached, and warned that it could collapse unless a “period of calm” was established before a deal can be implemented.