Russia blames US for holding up Syria deal

Update 9pm: Russia’s foreign minister has said he is thinking of “calling it a day” on talks with the United States to forge a ceasefire in Syria.

The two sides have been trying to find a way to end more than five years of fighting between Syria’s Russian-backed government and US -supported rebels.

“There’s been so much bloodletting, so much destruction, so many continued, seething tensions and sectarian divisions, that I question whether we will see the creation of a central government in both of those countries that’s going to have the ability to govern fairly”.

“The opposition tells us they want to reach a deal with the Russians if in fact it would stop some of the worst forms of violence against the Syrian people”, a second senior administration official said.

The deal will be implemented at sundown on Monday, Lavrov said. He then presented journalists with several boxes of pizza, saying, “This is from the US delegation”, and two bottles of vodka, adding, “This is from the Russian delegation”.

Another senior US official said en route to Geneva that while Kerry would try to make progress there, “patience is not infinite” and the United States would not simply keep talking if a conclusion was not reached “relatively soon”. Then, the USA and Russian Federation would begin intelligence sharing and targeting coordination, while Assad’s air and ground forces would no longer be permitted to target Nusra any longer; they would be restricted to operations against the Islamic State.

Senior State Department officials briefing reporters on Kerry’s flight to Switzerland played down the prospect of a final breakthrough from Friday’s talks, although they said “steady progress” had been made in recent weeks.

The officials declined to elaborate on what Washington might do if the talks broke down. “By all accounts, Assad air attacks have been the main driver of civilian casualties and migration flows” out of Syria.

Both warring sides would pull back from the strategic Castello Road in Aleppo to create a demilitarised zone, while opposition and government groups would both have to provide safe and unhindered access via Ramouseh in the south of the city.

He said the deal would include steps that would stop the Syrian regime from flying combat missions where opposition forces are operating.

The second US official said one of the reasons Kerry had kept up the effort was because the Syrian opposition supported it as a way to stop the worst violence in their country.

Despite months of diplomacy, neither side has succeeded.