Kerry and Lavrov open Syria talks as countries trade barbs

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov open talks to try and reconcile deep differences over a proposed ceasefire for the Syrian civil war. They meet as other US and Russian officials trad allegations over bombing of civilian areas in the besieged city of Aleppo.

Russia has proposed a March 1 ceasefire, but Washington believes that will only give Moscow and the Syrian government three weeks to crush moderate rebel groups. The US has countered with a demand for an immediate truce.

As the meeting begins at a Munich hotel, Kerry declines to speculate on whether an agreement could be reached.

“We’re going to have a serious conversation about all aspects about what’s happening in Syria,” he says. “Obviously, at some point in time, we want to make progress on the issues of humanitarian access and cease-fire. We will talk about all aspects of the conflict.”

Lavrov says that Russia had already submitted a “quite specific” proposal, and “we will wait for the American response before we take it to the ISSG.” The ISSG is the International Syria Support Group, a collection of about 20 countries with interests in the conflict, that was due to meet later Thursday in Munich.

The talk of new cease-fire plans comes as the US, Russia and more than a dozen other countries meet to try to halt five years of civil war. The conflict has killed more than a quarter-million people, created Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State to carve out its own territory across parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq.

— AP