Kerry, Lavrov fail to make progress on Syria truce
Kerry to attend Syria meeting in Paris on Saturday, as intense fighting continues in devastated Aleppo
HAMBURG, Germany – US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov failed to make progress on a Syria truce in talks in Germany early Thursday, an American official said, as intense bombing continued to pummel the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.
Kerry and Lavrov met twice Thursday on the margins of a foreign ministers’ meeting of the 57-member Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said a US official.
Their meetings lasted 10 minutes each and “no progress, no conclusion were reached on Aleppo,” the devastated city where Russia-backed regime troops are battling rebel forces, the official said.
However, leaving the talks with Lavrov in the northern German city of Hamburg, Kerry told Russian journalists that he remained hopeful and would continue to work for a solution.
Moscow launched an air war in support of Assad’s forces last year, while Washington has supported rebel forces battling the regime.
On Wednesday the United States, Britain and France led a joint call for an immediate ceasefire to allow aid to reach Aleppo, in an appeal backed by Canada, Germany and Italy.
Kerry said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday that he would work for a relaunch of peace talks between the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad and the opposition, with the help of Russia.
“Russia says Assad is ready to come to the table … and I am in favor of putting that to the test,” Kerry said in Brussels.
Lavrov said in Hamburg on Wednesday, before a meeting with Kerry, that Russia backed a US proposal made on December 2 involving a rebel withdrawal from eastern Aleppo, which Moscow has accused Washington of since backtracking on.
Kerry has denied any change of plans and Washington itself has accused Moscow of stalling after Russia and China blocked a UN Security Council resolution on Monday calling for a seven-day ceasefire.
Kerry will on Saturday take part in a Paris meeting on Syria organised by his French, German and Qatari counterparts, the State Department said.
In a blistering three-week offensive, Syrian government forces have seized about 80 percent of east Aleppo, a stronghold for rebel groups since 2012.
Increasingly cornered in a pocket of territory in the city’s southeast, opposition factions on Wednesday called for an “immediate five-day humanitarian ceasefire.”
When during an interview with the Syrian daily Al-Watan Assad was asked about the possibility of a truce in Aleppo, he replied, “it’s practically non-existent, of course.”
“The Americans in particular are insisting on demanding a truce, because their terrorist agents are now in a difficult situation,” Assad told Al-Watan.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights 19 civilians were killed in the regime bombardment of east Aleppo on Wednesday.
The Times of Israel Community.