Lavrov and Kerry to meet in Switzerland to discuss Syria
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet in Switzerland on Saturday in order to discuss Syria despite high tensions between Moscow and Washington, Reuters reported.
Russian and U.S. attempts at a coordinated peace effort in Syria came to an abrupt halt after the Syrian government launched a renewed offensive on the war-torn city of Aleppo last month, aided by Russian bombers. A Russian and U.S. backed ceasefire deal, which lasted barely a week, broke down after the U.S.-led coalition carried out an airstrike on Syrian government troops near Deir ez-Zor on September 17th. Washington insists that the attack was accidental. Several days later, a UN humanitarian convoy was bombed outside Aleppo. The U.S. blamed the attack on Russia and the Syrian government, effectively severing any hope of salvaging the ceasefire.
The Syrian government has since resumed its offensive on Aleppo in full. 25 people were reportedly killed in airstrikes on rebel-held sections of the city of Wednesday, 15 of whom were killed at a marketplace. Damascus has denied that the Syrian army is intentionally targeting civilians. An estimated 250,000 Syrians remain under siege in Aleppo.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Lavrov and Kerry will meet with their counterparts from Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iran on Saturday in order to discuss the situation.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Washington remained committed to a "deep multilateral engagement" in pursuit of a peace plan in Syria, which would have to involve Russia.