Spokesman: US, Russia commit to further Syrian aid

Syria Democratic Forces walk in an area they have taken control of from Islamic State fighters in Hasaka countryside, Syria, Feb. 19, 2016.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of contacts to monitor the war, said Islamic militias assaulted government-held positions around Khanaser, a town southeast of Aleppo, setting off intense clashes that have lasted through the day.

Russian Federation has previously said it will not stop its airstrikes against what it calls terrorist targets in Syria, even if there is worldwide agreement on a temporary truce.

Lavrov also “drew attention to the inadmissibility of Turkey’s provocative actions violating Syria’s territorial integrity”.

“Russia considers such cross-border shelling that Turkey is carrying out as unacceptable”.

He also said any truce must ensure that “other countries, especially Turkey, are prevented from sending more terrorists and weapons, or any kind of logistical support”.

Russian Federation has chose to take its differences with Turkey to the UN Security Council which was scheduled to convene an emergency closed-door session yesterday evening on the Syrian crisis and Turkish operations on Syrian land in particular. It was turned down by France.

“There will not be a truce unless fighting stops simultaneously on the part of all the belligerents, sieges are lifted, humanitarian aid is delivered to those in need, and prisoners, particularly women and children, are released”, Hijab said. “Russian Federation must understand its unconditional support to [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad is a dead-end and a dead-end that could be extremely risky”, Delattre said.

Achieving a cessation of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access to all besieged Syrian cities were the outcome of the talks between superpowers in Germany, Munich this month.

“Russia will not succeed by unilaterally backing Bashar al-Assad”.

In an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel published Saturday, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the moderate opposition could “neutralize” helicopters and aircraft that have been bombing them.

“We will announce a new date later”, RIA Novosti news agency quoted the ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.

The officials said that the two sides have agreed on the terms and conditions for the “cessation of hostilities”.

The tangled alliances and rivalries among the states and armed groups embroiled in the war add to pessimism about the chances of success of further peace talks envisaged soon in Geneva.

More than 260,000 people have been killed in the almost five-year conflict, and half the country’s population has been displaced.

Turkey and other countries, he added, were also required in the draft resolution to respect the resolutions of the UN Security Council regarding counterterrorism.

It did not name Turkey but it was clearly aimed at the Turkish government, which has threatened ground action and is continuing a cross-border artillery shelling campaign against U.S.-backed Kurdish militia positions in Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday called on the United States to give unconditional support in the fight against Syrian Kurdish militants, illustrating growing tension between Ankara and Washington over policy in northern Syria.

“We can only express regret that this draft resolution was rejected”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on February 20.