World powers agree Syria ceasefire, says John Kerry

Galvanised by mounting worldwide concern over the war, John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, said progress had been made towards implementing a nationwide “cessation of hostilities”, although it was not clear how this could happen unless Russian Federation stops bombing civilians and mainstream rebels who are fighting the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

Kerry said he expected a “serious conversation”.

And for his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday he had presented a “concrete” plan that the USA was now considering.

According to the statement, the sides also reiterated their strong opposition to any preconditions that could hamper the advancement of peace process in the war-torn country.

“We have a common determination to reduce the suffering of the Syrian people”, he said.

Turkey has already taken in 2.6 million Syrians, the world’s largest refugee population, and has agreed to help keep them from travelling into Europe in return for aid.

“Russia, in particular, claims to be attacking terrorist groups and yet consistently bombs non-extremist groups including civilians”. One said the US can’t accept Russia’s offer because opposition forces could suffer irreversible losses in northern and southern Syria before the cease-fire ever takes hold.

Russian Federation said its air force had carried out more than 500 combat missions in Syria over the past week.

But the US has staked its hopes for an end to the five-year civil war in Syria on the peace talks and Assad’s eventual departure, saying the American public has no appetite for a military solution.

Lavrov said peace talks should resume in Geneva as soon as possible and that all Syrian opposition groups should participate.

The United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other powers meet in Munich later on Thursday to try to revive talks around the conflict that foundered earlier this month. “And over the coming week, this group will work to develop the modalities for a long term, comprehensive and durable cessation of hostilities”, he said.

Intensive Russian air strikes have crushed rebel positions, allowing the army and allied Lebanese and Iranian fighters to come close to encircling Aleppo – Syria’s largest city before the war – half of which has been in rebel hands for years.

The crisis has also strained relations between Turkey and its Western allies.

He said Turkey and its partners did not object to Russian Federation targeting militant groups such as Islamic State and the Nusra Front, but said Moscow should do so in coordination with the US-led coalition.

“Hey, America. Because you never recognized them as a terrorist group, the region has turned into a sea of blood”, Erdogan said. They were meeting as other US and Russian officials traded allegations of bombing civilian areas in the besieged city of Aleppo.

Abdul-Jabbar Abu Thabet, a local rebel commander in the Aleppo province, said Thursday that Mannagh air base fell to the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, and their allies after fierce battles. The Kurds appeared to be exploiting the chaos to expand their nearby enclave.

That, in fact, may be the goal of warring parties now securing gains on the battlefield: Moscow, Damascus and Tehran, each with its own motivations to continue the war and beat down rebel groups that began a revolution against Assad in the spring of 2011.