AFP, May 17, 2016 – The top US diplomat again accused Assad’s forces of deliberately starving besieged areas and said UN humanitarian agencies would be ordered to drop food.
“We have agreed consequences for any side’s actions that have an agenda other than that of trying to reach an agreement and trying to reach peace,” Secretary Kerry said.
“Starting on June 1, if the UN is denied humanitarian access to any of these designated areas, the ISSG calls on the World Food Program to immediately carry out a program for air bridges and air drops,” he also added.
Lavrov did not dispute Kerry’s account of the agreement, but said Moscow’s emphasis was on the fight against the Islamic State group and others he deemed terrorists.
Lavrov also denied that the ongoing ceasefire violations showed that Moscow has less influence over its Damascus ally that was once thought.
“As to whether Assad is ignoring our advice and our work with him or not — no, he is not ignoring it,” he said.
“Assad is fully aware and remembers that he has taken upon himself responsibilities to stick to the sequence of steps spelled out in Resolution 2254.”
– Fighting continues –
For his part, De Mistura said he could not restart UN-mediated talks in Geneva if the fighting continues.
“The exact date, I am not at the moment revealing that,” he said, referring to a possible resumption of indirect talks between the warring parties.
“Credible intra-Syrian talks will be credible when there is a credible cessation of hostilities and credible progress on the humanitarian side.”
In one piece of positive news, at least from Washington’s point of view, Kerry said the formerly 17-nation ISSG had welcomed Japan, Australia, Spain and Canada as new members.
But Washington’s allies in the process, especially the Arab states backing Syria’s rebels, are increasingly frustrated at Assad’s apparent determination to stay on.
“There is no lasting future for Syria with Assad,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said as he arrived for the Vienna talks.
“That’s why we need to discuss, under the auspices of the UN, what a transition government could look like and put things on the right track,” he added.
A regime air strike in Aleppo left at least seven civilians dead Tuesday, among them a mother and her young daughter, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
– Brutal crackdown –
The Syrian war erupted in early 2011 after Assad’s forces launched a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests, and has since claimed more than 270,000 lives.
Millions have been driven from their homes and a wave of refugees has joined a flow of migrants struggling to escape to Europe, causing a humanitarian and political crisis.
On the ground, US allies like Saudi Arabia and Turkey back some of the rebel factions, while Russia has dispatched war planes and advisors and Iran troops to back Assad.
