U.S. To Russia: Syrian Ceasefire Talks Are Suspended

It blamed the shelling on two rebel groups, including al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria formerly known as the Nusra Front, but also claimed the attack was the result of a US policy and that of its allies, which “provokes further bloodshed in Syria”. In the short term, the end of discussions on Syria deals a potential death blow to efforts to slow the civil war and begin negotiations on possible elections in the country that could mean the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

The US statement cites Russian Federation and Syria’s intensified military attacks against civilian areas, infrastructure and hospitals, including an attack on an aid convoy last month.

Russian Federation denied claim, accusing United States of trying to shift blame.

“In Syria, the problem about the inactivity of the Security Council is that there are fundamental divergences: the USA are explicitly trying to use the United Nations institution for a regime change, but this is not the mandate of the Security Council”, stressed Churkin. “It could well be. This is the reality of the situation”.

Russia’s Foreign and Defence Ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On Monday the war of words was overtaken by actions on both sides.

The U.S. led a campaign to institute economic sanctions on Russian Federation for its role in the Ukraine crisis.

But Moscow had another announcement to make Monday – Russia is suspending an arms reduction agreement it had with the U.S.to dispose of 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium.

A State Department official said US Secretary of State John Kerry is “laser-focused” on finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict through multilateral channels.

This young boy’s life was spared when he was rescued from a collapsed building in Aleppo. In doing so, he signaled a willingness to use nuclear disarmament as a new bargaining chip in disputes with the U.S.

In a statement, state department spokesman john Kirby said: “The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russian Federation that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities”.

The French resolution calls on Russian Federation and the United States “to ensure the immediate implementation of the cessation of hostilities, starting with Aleppo, and, to that effect, to put an end to all military flights over the city”.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook noted that Russia’s declared goal in Syria is to fight extremism, but that the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida branch there don’t have planes that could be targeted by such a system.

It said the USA woud withdraw personnel that were to have worked to establish a Joint Implementation Center with the Russians, but would continue to use channels to “deconflict conterterrorism operations”.

USA officials are “still assessing the results” to determine whether Mabrouk was killed, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said, describing him as “one of Al-Qaeda in Syria’s most senior leaders and a legacy Al-Qaeda terrorist who previously had ties to Osama bin Laden”.

The SA-23 represents an interesting choice of deployment for Russian Federation, as it fires two types of missiles, one that can counter any USA cruise missile attack, and one that can counter intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

De Mistura s office stressed though that the UN-backed humanitarian taskforce for Syria “will continue its hard work in order to assist the unimpeded delivery of aid to vulnerable civilians in Syria”.

In a sharp attack on Washington, Konashenkov also charged that the US -led action against the Islamic State group was merely an “imitation” that has failed to prevent the IS expansion.