The US is confident that together with Russia they can establish a complete ceasefire in the northern capital of Syria – Aleppo, the head of US Department's press service John Kirby said.
From the point of view of the US government Aleppo is one of those areas of Syria "where a truce is under significant threat, and it continues to be violated by the ruling in Damascus regime ." In this regard, Kirby was asked if the US government was confident that it would come to an agreement with Russia to include Aleppo in the list of settlements observing the ceasefire, and that Moscow would pressure the Syrian authorities if necessary. ‘‘The short answer to both of your question was ‘yes’," said the official representative of the US State Department, Tass reports.
Kirby stressed that during talks with Russia excluding Aleppo from the ceasefire agreement was never discussed. During the latest telephone conversation yesterday between the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and the US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed, among other things, the ceasefire in Aleppo,’’ he said.
According to Kirby, ‘‘it was main topic of the discussion between US Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Lavrov."
Kirby also acknowledged that the truce was restored in Syria around Damascus and Latakia during Saturday and Sunday. "During the weekend we saw the cessation of hostilities in areas around Latakia and Damascus," the US diplomat said. Nevertheless, Kirby was sure that «there were many cases when truce was violated in Aleppo and its surroundings.
According to the State Department, Lavrov and Kerry discussed ‘’mainly the ceasefire’’ in Syria, "recognizing that it was really fragile."
At the same time, the foreign ministers discussed "ways to restore the truce accross the country," said Kirby. He refused to disclose details of the current arrangements between Lavrov and Kerry on Syria, including the ceasefire monitoring. Several hours earlier in Geneva, Kerry did not provide journalists with any details, saying that "not all the mechanisms and modalities have been negotiated yet," Kirby said.
The official representative of the US State Department actually rejected the idea of creating the so-called security zones in Aleppo. "We would like Syria to become a safe zone... We would like the cease-fire to be fully observed by all parties across the country,’’ Kirby concluded.
