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| Syria conflict: UN presses Russia to help save truce | Syria conflict: UN presses Russia to help save truce |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| UN envoy Staffan de Mistura is to meet Russia's foreign minister to discuss efforts to salvage the crumbling cessation of hostilities in Syria. | UN envoy Staffan de Mistura is to meet Russia's foreign minister to discuss efforts to salvage the crumbling cessation of hostilities in Syria. |
| Mr de Mistura wants Russia and the US, which back opposing sides in the war, to work together to restore the partial truce they negotiated in February. | Mr de Mistura wants Russia and the US, which back opposing sides in the war, to work together to restore the partial truce they negotiated in February. |
| Washington has criticised Moscow for failing to rein in Syrian government forces around the city of Aleppo. | Washington has criticised Moscow for failing to rein in Syrian government forces around the city of Aleppo. |
| But Moscow says air strikes there have only been targeting "terrorists". | But Moscow says air strikes there have only been targeting "terrorists". |
| More than 250 people have died in Aleppo in the past 10 days, most of them civilians, activists say. | More than 250 people have died in Aleppo in the past 10 days, most of them civilians, activists say. |
| About two-thirds of those deaths have been in the rebel-held eastern side of city, including 50 in an air strike on a hospital that the US says was deliberate. | About two-thirds of those deaths have been in the rebel-held eastern side of city, including 50 in an air strike on a hospital that the US says was deliberate. |
| On Tuesday, at least three people were killed and 17 others wounded in a rebel rocket attack on a hospital in the government-controlled Muhafaza district, state media said. Most of the victims were reportedly women and children. | |
| 'No excuse' | 'No excuse' |
| Speaking in Geneva on the eve of his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Mr de Mistura described the nine-week-old cessation of hostilities in Syria as a "miracle", but warned it was "becoming very fragile". | Speaking in Geneva on the eve of his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Mr de Mistura described the nine-week-old cessation of hostilities in Syria as a "miracle", but warned it was "becoming very fragile". |
| He said the situation in Aleppo needed to be addressed urgently. | He said the situation in Aleppo needed to be addressed urgently. |
| "There is no excuse for not finding, again, and reinvigorating and reinstalling and re-implementing what has been the only strong message the Syrian people have heard from all of us - that it is possible to have [peace] talks when finally the cessation of hostilities is reducing the violence," he added. | "There is no excuse for not finding, again, and reinvigorating and reinstalling and re-implementing what has been the only strong message the Syrian people have heard from all of us - that it is possible to have [peace] talks when finally the cessation of hostilities is reducing the violence," he added. |
| The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says the UN envoy knows that Russia has a vital role to play because of its close ties to Damascus and the influence it has on President Bashar al-Assad. | The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says the UN envoy knows that Russia has a vital role to play because of its close ties to Damascus and the influence it has on President Bashar al-Assad. |
| Mr de Mistura was speaking after holding talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who warned that the Syrian conflict was "in many ways out of control". | Mr de Mistura was speaking after holding talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who warned that the Syrian conflict was "in many ways out of control". |
| Mr Kerry acknowledged that rebel forces were also fighting on the ground in Aleppo, but he made clear who he thought was chiefly to blame. | Mr Kerry acknowledged that rebel forces were also fighting on the ground in Aleppo, but he made clear who he thought was chiefly to blame. |
| "You cannot have legitimate political talks about peace when the parties at the table have both signed up to an agreement which calls for a full cessation of hostilities countrywide as well as a full delivery of humanitarian materials countrywide, and yet one party is blatantly violating that agreement," he told reporters. | "You cannot have legitimate political talks about peace when the parties at the table have both signed up to an agreement which calls for a full cessation of hostilities countrywide as well as a full delivery of humanitarian materials countrywide, and yet one party is blatantly violating that agreement," he told reporters. |
| Mr Kerry said Washington would press rebels operating in Aleppo to distance themselves from the jihadist group al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate which is excluded from the cessation of hostilities. | Mr Kerry said Washington would press rebels operating in Aleppo to distance themselves from the jihadist group al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate which is excluded from the cessation of hostilities. |
| Russia and the Syrian government have said they are targeting on al-Nusra militants, whom they consider terrorists. However, the US and the opposition have accused the government of indiscriminate attacks on civilians. | Russia and the Syrian government have said they are targeting on al-Nusra militants, whom they consider terrorists. However, the US and the opposition have accused the government of indiscriminate attacks on civilians. |
| Mr Kerry later spoke by telephone to Mr Lavrov. The pair "agreed on new measures to be taken", the Russian foreign ministry said, without providing details. | Mr Kerry later spoke by telephone to Mr Lavrov. The pair "agreed on new measures to be taken", the Russian foreign ministry said, without providing details. |
| A Russian military official separately said talks were under way on extending to Aleppo the "regime of calm" that was declared by the Syrian military over the weekend around the capital, Damascus, and the coastal province of Latakia. | A Russian military official separately said talks were under way on extending to Aleppo the "regime of calm" that was declared by the Syrian military over the weekend around the capital, Damascus, and the coastal province of Latakia. |