Syria denounces ‘outrageous’ Turkish artillery shelling

And Assad himself added his own conditions to any truce plan, saying on Saturday he was ready for a ceasefire on condition that “terrorists” did not use a lull in fighting to their advantage, and that countries backing insurgents halted support for them.

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

After the meeting, Power urged Russian Federation to focus on implementing a December 18 Security Council resolution that endorsed a road map for peace process, “rather than trying to distract the world with the resolution they have just laid down”.

Moscow asked Syrian President Bashar al Assad to follow ‘Russian leadership to resolve the crisis in the country’. And it is illegal for a citizen of Saudi Arabia to be a Christian.

The Russian draft resolution didn’t name Turkey but it was clearly aimed at the Turkish government, which has threatened ground action and was keeping up its cross-border artillery shelling campaign Friday against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia positions in Syria.

Talks were planned to resume on 25 February but United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura announced yesterday that they had been delayed.

The two ministers have discussed humanitarian relief operations and exchanged their views on the practical aspects of cooperation between the two countries in reaching a nationwide ceasefire in Syria that would exclude terrorist groups.

Turkey has proposed military intervention in Syria to counter the threat posed to it by Kurdish groups and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday to discuss the progress made by two United Nations task forces meeting in Geneva this week to discuss humanitarian assistance and a cessation of hostilities, according to State Department spokesman John Kirby.

Diplomats said at least six of the 15 council members rejected the resolution outright when it was presented, and only one member – Venezuela – expressed support.

Turkey said the PYD has links to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), a Kurdish group in Turkey that is considered by Ankara a terror group, while the United States said it sees no evidence that the Syrian Kurds and Turkish Kurds are working together.

Settlement of the Syrian conflict depends not only on the declaration of ceasefire, Syria’s President Bashar Assad said in an interview the daily El Pais published on Saturday.

Mr Peskov stressed that Syrian government troops were coming under fire in the area being shelled by Turkey, as well as Kurdish fighters.

He said the current military escalation is “the direct result of the brutal offensive in the north of Syria led by the Syrian regime and its allies”.