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| U.S. peace hopes for Syria on the line in Munich | U.S. peace hopes for Syria on the line in Munich |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| MUNICH — Secretary of State John F. Kerry searched Thursday for common ground amid stalled Syrian peace efforts, holding meetings with a key Syrian opposition envoy and Russia’s foreign minister even as Moscow pressed ahead with airstrikes to aid its ally in Damascus. | MUNICH — Secretary of State John F. Kerry searched Thursday for common ground amid stalled Syrian peace efforts, holding meetings with a key Syrian opposition envoy and Russia’s foreign minister even as Moscow pressed ahead with airstrikes to aid its ally in Damascus. |
| Kerry’s outreach faces considerable challenges. Russia and the Syrian opposition appear far apart, threatening the wider efforts to find a political path to end five years of conflict in Syria. | |
| Riyad Hijab, the former Syrian prime minister who heads the opposition negotiating committee, has said key demands must be met before the group could consider talks with the Russian-backed Syrian government. They include a halt to Russian airstrikes on rebel-held and civilian zones and the opening of humanitarian corridors to allow safe passage of aid to besieged areas. | |
| Russia, which began airstrikes last year to help Syria’s government, claims the attacks aim to clear Aleppo, a major city in western Syria, of what Moscow calls terrorist fighters. | |
| Tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the attacks have streamed toward Turkey, but they have encountered a barricaded border as Turkish leaders engage in a showdown with Western allies over the refugees and steps to end the Syrian crisis. | |
| [Syrians stranded between airstrikes and locked border fence] | [Syrians stranded between airstrikes and locked border fence] |
| “We’re going to have a serious conversation about all aspects about what’s happening in Syria,” Kerry said before a closed-door session with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. | |
| “Obviously, at some point in time,” Kerry continued, “we want to make progress on the issues of humanitarian access and cease-fire.” | “Obviously, at some point in time,” Kerry continued, “we want to make progress on the issues of humanitarian access and cease-fire.” |
| Lavrov told reporters that Russia had already proposed a “quite specific” cease-fire plan. | Lavrov told reporters that Russia had already proposed a “quite specific” cease-fire plan. |
| “We will wait for the American response before we take it to” the International Syria Support Group of 17 nations that plans to meet in Munich later Thursday. | “We will wait for the American response before we take it to” the International Syria Support Group of 17 nations that plans to meet in Munich later Thursday. |
| U.S. officials have said that the Russian plan, conveyed to Washington earlier in the week, proposed a March 1 deadline for a cease-fire. It further seeks agreement that there will be no international monitoring on the ground or attempts to adjudicate blame for pre-cease-fire actions. | U.S. officials have said that the Russian plan, conveyed to Washington earlier in the week, proposed a March 1 deadline for a cease-fire. It further seeks agreement that there will be no international monitoring on the ground or attempts to adjudicate blame for pre-cease-fire actions. |
| While U.S. officials said the extended deadline was unacceptable, they said they had not responded yet with specifics. | |
| In Moscow, a Kremlin spokesman refused to address reports that Russia had offered a March 1 bombing stop. | In Moscow, a Kremlin spokesman refused to address reports that Russia had offered a March 1 bombing stop. |
| [U.S. official tours Syrian devastation] | [U.S. official tours Syrian devastation] |
| A U.N. resolution in December called for a cease-fire and humanitarian access. Before meeting Lavrov, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, urged Russia and other backers of the resolution to “stick to their own commitments.” | A U.N. resolution in December called for a cease-fire and humanitarian access. Before meeting Lavrov, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, urged Russia and other backers of the resolution to “stick to their own commitments.” |
| “It’s not just for the sake of diplomacy or the sake of geopolitics,” Mogherini said. “We’re not talking about numbers here, we’re talking about people.” | “It’s not just for the sake of diplomacy or the sake of geopolitics,” Mogherini said. “We’re not talking about numbers here, we’re talking about people.” |
| Russia’s Defense Ministry was defiant about its intervention in Syria, saying it would not yield to Western entreaties to stop an effort that has given President Bashar al-Assad powerful momentum on the battlefield. | Russia’s Defense Ministry was defiant about its intervention in Syria, saying it would not yield to Western entreaties to stop an effort that has given President Bashar al-Assad powerful momentum on the battlefield. |
| Western efforts at “political transitions” — the subject of the Support Group meeting in Munich — led to bloodshed and refugees, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a Defense Ministry spokesman, told reporters in Moscow. | |
| Konashenkov said Russian military planes have flown 510 combat missions in the last week, destroying “1,888 terrorist facilities.” He gave no indication that Russia plans to stop anytime soon. | |
| He denied that Russia was bombing civilians, saying that “no matter how long one baits terrorists, they will not become opposition members.” | He denied that Russia was bombing civilians, saying that “no matter how long one baits terrorists, they will not become opposition members.” |
| Responding to a charge Wednesday from Col. Steve Warren, the Baghdad-based spokesmen for coalition operations in Iraq and Syria, that Russian planes had bombed two hospitals in Aleppo, Konashenkov said two U.S. planes were actually responsible. | |
| “There were no coalition airstrikes in or near Aleppo on Wednesday, Feb 10. Any claim that the coalition had aircraft in the area is a fabrication,” Warren countered on Thursday. | “There were no coalition airstrikes in or near Aleppo on Wednesday, Feb 10. Any claim that the coalition had aircraft in the area is a fabrication,” Warren countered on Thursday. |
| [Kerry’s struggles over Syria] | [Kerry’s struggles over Syria] |
| Kerry is trying to find a way to stop the fighting and resume U.N.-sponsored negotiations over a transition government in Syria that were suspended early this month. | Kerry is trying to find a way to stop the fighting and resume U.N.-sponsored negotiations over a transition government in Syria that were suspended early this month. |
| Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, who met with Kerry earlier in the week in Washington, and again Wednesday night in Munich, also attended the meeting with Hijab. The Saudis have closely advised opposition negotiators. | Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, who met with Kerry earlier in the week in Washington, and again Wednesday night in Munich, also attended the meeting with Hijab. The Saudis have closely advised opposition negotiators. |
| Along with Lavrov and Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special envoy for Syria, Kerry will chair a meeting with representatives of the 17 European and regional governments that are sponsoring the negotiations. | |
| If the group fails to agree on a way forward that is acceptable to the opposition, the peace process appears likely to collapse. | |
| Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, whose government also backs Assad, arrived Thursday in Munich to attend the meeting. | |
| In Brussels, meanwhile, NATO leaders grappled on two fronts: the battle against the Islamic State and other militant factions in Syria and Iraq, and the waves of migrants fleeing Middle East violence. | In Brussels, meanwhile, NATO leaders grappled on two fronts: the battle against the Islamic State and other militant factions in Syria and Iraq, and the waves of migrants fleeing Middle East violence. |
| NATO dispatched warships to patrol the eastern Aegean Sea, seeking to disrupt people-smuggling networks between Turkey and Greek islands. | |
| [NATO to confront human-smuggling networks in Aegean] | [NATO to confront human-smuggling networks in Aegean] |
| Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter also met with defense ministers from the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State to ask for more contributions to the effort. Carter and Army Gen. Sean MacFarland, his top commander leading the effort from Baghdad, were scheduled to brief the group on the current situation and plans to eventually rout Islamic State forces from their headquarters in Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, in Syria. | |
| Asked how his push to accelerate the fight against the Islamic State might overlap with attempts in Munich to arrange a Syrian cease-fire, Carter indicated that he did not want to get out in front of Kerry. | |
| “Our focus here is going to be on counter-ISIL,” Carter said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. “It would certainly help to de-fuel extremism if the Syrian civil war came to an end.” | |
| Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are among countries that have said they will contribute ground troops — most likely Special Operations forces — in Syria as part of a coalition plan against the Islamic State that they have said has not yet been forthcoming from the United States. | |
| U.S. allies have grown increasingly critical of the Obama administration’s strategy in the fight against the militants, as well as in negotiations to stop the civil war, now in its fourth year, between Assad’s forces and rebels seeking to overthrow his government. | U.S. allies have grown increasingly critical of the Obama administration’s strategy in the fight against the militants, as well as in negotiations to stop the civil war, now in its fourth year, between Assad’s forces and rebels seeking to overthrow his government. |
| Michael Birnbaum in Moscow, Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Griff Witte in Brussels and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report. | Michael Birnbaum in Moscow, Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Griff Witte in Brussels and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report. |