Kerry-Lavrov Meeting: Syria on Top of Talks

Local Editor

Again it's the Syrian ground developments that brought US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov into Geneva's table.

In the announced text, the head of the two countries' diplomacy attempt to hammer out final details of a cooperation agreement on fighting Daesh [Arabic Acronym for the terrorist "ISIS"/ "ISIL" group] in Syria during Friday talks.

The hope is that a deal will lead to a cessation of hostilities across Syria and relaunch talks on a political solution to the country.

While Kerry said this week that technical teams from both sides were close to the end of their discussions, US officials indicated it was too early to say whether a deal was likely.

When Kerry launched the Syrian cooperation talks in July on a visit to Moscow, the proposal involved Washington and Moscow sharing intelligence to coordinate air strikes against Daesh.

Kerry believes the plan is the best chance to limit the fighting that is driving thousands of Syrians into exile in Europe and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching tens of thousands more, as well as preserving a political track.

The talks take place just days after Syrian militants backed by Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes entered Jarablus, one of Daesh's last strongholds on the Turkish-Syrian border.

Turkish military shelled the People's Protection Units, or YPG, south of Jarablus and demanded that the YPG retreat to the east side of the Euphrates River within a week.

The Kurdish militia had moved west of the river earlier this month as part of a US-backed operation, now completed, to capture the city of Manbij from Daesh.
Turkey's stance puts it at odds with Washington, which sees the YPG as a rare reliable ally on the ground in Syria.

Russia agreed to a 48-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo to allow aid deliveries, although UN officials said they were waiting for security guarantees from parties on the ground.

The United Nations has pushed for a weekly pause in the fighting in Aleppo to deliver food, water and medicine to people caught in the fighting.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team