U.S. and Russian Federation fail to close deal on ending violence in Syria

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that the situation in Syria had “dramatically deteriorated” since the “brief oasis of calm” following a cessation- of-hostilities agreement, and he promised that the U.S. and Russian Federation were close to a new agreement on a more durable arrangement.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the Syrian issue with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva.

“We have continued our efforts to reduce the areas where we lack understanding and trust, which is an achievement”, Lavrov said.

“If the remaining details can be completed, we believe we will be able to address the two primary challenges to the cessation of hostilities – the regime violations and the increasing influence of the al-Nusra Front”, Kerry said.

John Kerry has said any deal between Russian Federation and the United States on Syria must achieve lasting stability in the region.

Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations envoy for Syria, joined the conversations in the early afternoon, and told The Associated Press after the break: “We are still working”.

“We want to have something done that is effective and that works for the people of Syria, that makes the region more stable and secure, and that brings us to the table here in Geneva to find a political solution”, he said.

When Kerry launched the Syrian cooperation talks in July during a visit to Moscow, the proposal involved Washington and Moscow sharing military intelligence to coordinate air strikes against Islamic State and grounding the Syrian air force to stop it from attacking moderate rebel groups. After missing an initial target date of Aug. 1, de Mistura had hoped to restart the intra-Syrian discussions toward political transition in late August. Plastered on the wall in the background are a large version of the Syrian flag and the flag of the Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah movement.

The US says the fight against IS can’t happen without Assad leaving power. Last week, the USA had to call for Russian help when Syrian warplanes struck an area not far from where US troops were operating. The US, in turn, would share intelligence with Russian Federation for strikes against Islamic groups. At the same time, the administration is not of one mind regarding the Russians. Recent developments include military operations around the city of Aleppo, the entry of Turkey into the ground war, Turkish hostility toward US-backed Kurdish rebel groups and the presence of American military advisers in widening conflict zones.

Separately, Syrian rebels and government forces agreed in a deal on Thursday to evacuate all residents and insurgents from the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya, ending one of the longest standoffs in the five-year conflict. Lavrov, too, said the negotiations had made a number of advances.