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Syria: Last minute attempts to reach US-Russia peace deal
Syria: Last minute attempts to reach US-Russia peace deal
The foreign ministers from the two powers are said to be negotiating after Obama and Putin failed to reach a settlement at the G20 summit
2 min read
The rival world powers are attempting to reach a settlement for the war-torn country [Getty]
Last minute attempts to broker a US-Russia peace deal for Syria have been launched in Geneva, following failed attempts earlier this week.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov are said to be negotiating after an Obama-Putin stand-off on the sidelines of the G20 summit failed to reach a settlement.
Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has been conducting airstrikes to bolster his forces for nearly a year.
The US supports rebels fighting to overthrow Assad and has called on him to step down.
Both sides have agreed that a deal would involve a durable ceasefire, humanitarian access to conflict-racked areas and a resumption of peace talks.
However US defence secretary Ash Carter told BBC radio there was "quite a long way to go" before a deal could be struck.
Lavrov has said that new US sanctions over the Ukraine crisis have hampered joint efforts by both sides to resolve "regional conflicts" - a reference to the Syria war.
Carter said there were "serious differences" with Russia, adding it had acted "in an aggressive manner".
As diplomatic efforts intensify, fighting in the complex war continues to claim lives, with Turkish shelling over the border into Syria killing six US-backed Kurdish fighters.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday its troops are ready to join US forces in further penetrating Islamic State territory and eventually taking the militants' de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov are said to be negotiating after an Obama-Putin stand-off on the sidelines of the G20 summit failed to reach a settlement.
Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has been conducting airstrikes to bolster his forces for nearly a year.
The US supports rebels fighting to overthrow Assad and has called on him to step down.
Both sides have agreed that a deal would involve a durable ceasefire, humanitarian access to conflict-racked areas and a resumption of peace talks.
However US defence secretary Ash Carter told BBC radio there was "quite a long way to go" before a deal could be struck.
Lavrov has said that new US sanctions over the Ukraine crisis have hampered joint efforts by both sides to resolve "regional conflicts" - a reference to the Syria war.
Carter said there were "serious differences" with Russia, adding it had acted "in an aggressive manner".
As diplomatic efforts intensify, fighting in the complex war continues to claim lives, with Turkish shelling over the border into Syria killing six US-backed Kurdish fighters.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday its troops are ready to join US forces in further penetrating Islamic State territory and eventually taking the militants' de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria.
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