US Once Again Forced to Turn to Russia for Help on Syria
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Scrambling to resuscitate a nearly dead truce in Syria, the Obama administration has again been forced to turn to Russia for help, with little hope for the desired US outcome.
At stake are thousands of lives and the fate of a feeble peace process essential to the fight against Daesh (ISIL), and US Secretary of State John Kerry has appealed once more to his Russian counterpart for assistance in containing and reducing the violence, particularly around city of Aleppo.
Kerry spoke at length on Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to that end, and had been hoping to meet with Lavrov soon, according to US officials on Sunday.
Kerry arrived in the Swiss capital on Sunday evening and headed into talks with Jordan's foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, the Associated Press reports.
The top US diplomat scheduled meetings on Monday with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir before planning to return to Washington.
But Lavrov was not expected to be in Geneva, complicating Kerry's efforts to make the case directly to the Russia on the stoppoge or at least limit of attacks in Aleppo.
The US State Department said Kerry, in his meetings, would "review ongoing efforts to reaffirm the cessation of hostilities nationwide in Syria, obtain the full humanitarian access to which the Syrian government committed and support a political transition."
Specific, viable options to achieve those broad goals are limited, and Friday's announcement of a new, partial cease-fire that does not include Aleppo underscored the difficulty Kerry faced.
US and other officials described that initiative, brokered mainly by Russia and the United States as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, as a "reinforcement" of the February truce, now largely in tatters, that they hope to extend from Damascus and the capital's suburbs and the coastal province of Latakia to other areas.
"This is an agreement within the task force, but certainly on the part of the US and Russia that there would be a reinforcement of the cessation of hostilities in these specific areas as a start, with the expectation that this ... would be then extended elsewhere," US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Sunday.
Syria's military extended a unilateral cease-fire around the capital for another 24 hours on Sunday, and relative calm set in across much of the country after days of heavy fighting concentrated in Aleppo.
For that city, the US is considering drawing up with the Russians a detailed map of the city that would lay out "safe zones." Civilians and members of opposition who are categorized as "moderates" covered by the truce could find shelter from attacks.
One US official said "hard lines" would delineate specific areas and neighborhoods. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
It was not immediately clear whether Russia would accept such a plan. Some US officials are skeptical of the chances for success, but also note that it is worth a try.
Kerry discussed the deteriorating situation in calls over the past days with de Mistura and the head of a Syrian opposition negotiating committee. "We are working on specific initiatives to de-escalate the increased fighting and defuse tensions and hope to make tangible progress on such initiatives soon," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
