Russia proposes March 1 ceasefire in Syria; US wants it now

The Obama administration also wants a settlement in Syria to allow for more focused fighting to eliminate Islamic State militants, who have used the chaos to take over large swaths of Syria and Iraq before expanding now to Libya.

“Humanitarian access to these most urgent areas will be a first step toward full, sustained, and unimpeded access throughout the country”, the International Syria Support Group said in a statement. Russian Federation says the strikes are aimed at terrorists, but the United States said their airstrikes are aimed at propping up Assad.

Five years of conflict have killed more than a quarter of a million people, created Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War and allowed IS to carve out its own territory across parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

Russian Federation continues to act “as if they believe there is a military solution” to the conflict, Kirby said, while the US believes in a political solution for Syria.

The diplomatic push has been complicated by the successes of the pro-regime offensive, backed by Russian air power, which Arab, Israeli and US officials say has vital USA allies taking sharply different positions at a crucial moment.

And the day before, a Pentagon spokesman accused Russian and Syrian government forces of bombing two hospitals in Aleppo.

The top US diplomat said he hopes for progress on humanitarian access to civilians in Syria as well as a ceasefire.

However, he added, the USA had not shown any “willingness to genuinely pressure Russian Federation”.

“Those who are outside Syria should help the peace process and not seek to impose conditions on the Syrian people”, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told Iran’s state TV after arriving for the talks.

UN-hosted negotiations among rebel groups and Assad’s representatives stalled last week after opposition members refused to participate in the talks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow had submitted proposals for implementing a ceasefire in Syria and was waiting for a reaction from worldwide powers. Kerry said that a long-term cease-fire in Syria depends on parties to its civil war engaging in “genuine negotiation”.

He said: “We are there legally, at the invitation of the Syrian government”.

The head of another rebel coalition, however, said Russia’s proposal was simply “a trick which the [Assad] regime will use to prepare for other military operations”.

The Syrian government, backed by Russian air strikes, launched a major offensive from the north of Aleppo and captured several strategically important towns earlier this month.

Kurdish fighters based in their stronghold in the city of Afrin, south of rebel-held Azaz, have grabbed a string of villages that rebels have been forced to evacuate to confront advancing Syrian troops coming from the south. He said the Aleppo battle makes it “much more hard to be able to come to the table and to be able to have a serious conversation”. It is unclear when the plan would go into effect, but Russian officials had previously put forward a March 1 start date.