US Secretary of State John Kerry flew in to Geneva on Friday to meet his Russian counterpart once again, seeking a deal with Moscow to restore a ceasefire in Syria. Senior officials travelling with Kerry said he would not have travelled to join Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov unless he thought there was a chance of making progress. Washington wants concrete steps from Russia to force its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad to stop bombing his own people and to lift the siege of the city of Aleppo. In exchange for reining in its client in Damascus, Russia wants closer military cooperation with the United States in the battle against jihadist groups fighting in Syria. But the truce collapsed and President Vladimir Putin's Russia has maintained strong support for Assad's forces, while Washington has encouraged the opposition rebels.

Source: dna September 09, 2016 08:26 UTC