Secretary of State John Kerry is threatening to cut off all contacts with Moscow over Syria, unless Russian and Syrian government attacks on Aleppo end. ( Jason DeCrow / AP )WASHINGTON—Secretary of State John Kerry threatened on Wednesday to end all co-operation between the United States and Russia to stop Syria’s civil war, unless Russian and Syrian government attacks on Aleppo end. Kerry said the U.S. is preparing to “suspend U.S.-Russia bilateral engagement on Syria,” including talks on a possible counter-extremist partnership, “unless Russia takes immediate steps to end the assault on Aleppo and restore” a cease-fire. Kerry’s threat aside, the U.S. has few other options beyond engaging Moscow to end the fighting between Assad’s forces and rebels. Obama has made clear he won’t authorize military action against Syria and the presence of Russian air assets alongside Syrian forces makes such a scenario all the more unlikely.

Source: thestar September 28, 2016 17:14 UTC