Four explosions hit government-held parts of Syria: state media, monitor

Putin meanwhile said he felt there was “some alignment of positions and an understanding of what we could do to de-escalate the situation in Syria”. Putin said the talks were “on the right track” and he hoped both nations would strengthen cooperation against terrorism.

Obama said the USA and Russia “haven’t yet closed the gaps” on a ceasefire agreement, a day after Russian-backed government forces advanced against rebels and reimposed a siege on the rebel-held eastern sector of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. His gains have relied heavily on Russian air support since September past year.

Syrian state television says at least one of the attacks was set off by a suicide bomber.

The turmoil underlined the complexity of a five-year civil war that has cut Syria into a patchwork of territories held by the state and an often competing array of armed factions and sectarian groups.

It had been hoped a deal on a ceasefire and humanitarian deliveries would be announced jointly by Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov on Monday, but it was not forthcoming.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he was working with the US-led coalition and Russian Federation to try to establish a ceasefire in Aleppo before the Eid al-Adha religious holiday expected to start around September 11.

The U.S. and Russian Federation are trying to reach an agreement that would pave the way for a cease-fire in Syria.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. For Washington, the priority is stabilising Syria so as to destroy Islamic State.

At least 43 people were killed and several others were wounded in multiple bomb blasts in Syria on Monday. Conflicting casualty figures are common in the Syria war.

It has become a refuge for many Syrians fleeing the fighting that has displaced more than half the country’s population. The death toll was confirmed by the head of a city hospital.

The blasts targeted the Arzuna bridge, “the first a auto bomb and the second a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive belt when people gathered to help the wounded”, according to state television.

The blasts hit during Tartous’s Summer Festival.

The Observatory said the Homs explosion hit an army checkpoint, killing four officers.

The observatory said that a bomb attack also targeted a Syrian army checkpoint in the al-Sabura area west of the capital Damascus, killing three people.

The observatory reported an explosion, involving a motorbike in the Kurdish YPG militia-controlled city of Hasaka, where three members of the group’s security force were killed and several others injured.

Government forces withdrew from Hasakeh in August after street battles with Kurdish forces, which took control of the city, though the state’s police force remained in place.

Monday´s bombings came after advances by Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels expelled IS from the last stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border under their control.