US-Russian team working to advance truce in Syria to include Aleppo - Kerry

WASHINGTON, May 3 (KUNA) -- US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that a US-Russian team is working to advance the agenda of the cessation of hostility in Syria and to hastily include Aleppo.
In a press briefing, Kerry reiterated the effectiveness of the cessation of hospitality in Syria that went in affect last February as it "has saved thousands of lives," explaining that only "in the past couple of weeks it has become as frayed." Kerry confirmed that both he and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov discussed "the need to reaffirm the cessation in Aleppo as soon as possible," and that there is no solution to the situation in Syria "other than at the negotiating table." Kerry, who has returned from Geneva yesterday after talks with UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura to reengage the cessation of hostility, condemned the continued vicious attacks on civilians and medical facilities in Aleppo, reiterating that Syria will not have Assad in its picture of the future with the history of blood he has in his hands.
"The cessation of hostility was put in place precisely to give the people on the ground who are innocently caught between these warring factions some breather, some ability to be able to be safe and work this out at the negotiating table, which is waiting for the parties to come back to it in order to resolve this issue," he explained.
Kerry said that on a military-to-military level, a US-Russian group are negotiating in Geneva in hopes to reengage the cessation of hostility all across the nation accompanied by full human assistance delivery to the country controlled by a regime "that we now know beyond doubt continues to block food and medical supplies to people in desperate need." (end) yt.hm