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| US suspends Syria talks with Russia over bombing of rebel-held areas | US suspends Syria talks with Russia over bombing of rebel-held areas |
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| The US has cut off contacts with Russia on a Syrian truce, giving up hopes of restoring a ceasefire, as a Russian-Syrian aerial bombing campaign intensified its focus on destroying hospitals in rebel-held areas. | The US has cut off contacts with Russia on a Syrian truce, giving up hopes of restoring a ceasefire, as a Russian-Syrian aerial bombing campaign intensified its focus on destroying hospitals in rebel-held areas. |
| Washington also pulled out military personnel who had been dispatched to work with their Russian counterparts to mount joint bombing operations against Islamic State and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS, formerly Nusra Front) extremist groups. | |
| A few hours earlier, Moscow declared military contacts with the US had also stopped and Vladimir Putin suspended a six-year agreement with Washington on the reduction of military stocks of plutonium, as the bitter differences over Syria and Ukraine continued to drive a downward spiral in the US-Russian relationship. | |
| Two waves of airstrikes struck eastern Aleppo’s M10 hospital, one of the last three functioning major hospitals in east Aleppo. The first strike hit the hospital on Monday morning, killing seven people and leaving a large hole near the entrance. It was still reported to be functioning until a second strike in the early evening, when rescue workers were still at the scene. The hospital had already been struck from the air on Saturday and workmen were repairing the damage at the time of the first strike on Monday. | Two waves of airstrikes struck eastern Aleppo’s M10 hospital, one of the last three functioning major hospitals in east Aleppo. The first strike hit the hospital on Monday morning, killing seven people and leaving a large hole near the entrance. It was still reported to be functioning until a second strike in the early evening, when rescue workers were still at the scene. The hospital had already been struck from the air on Saturday and workmen were repairing the damage at the time of the first strike on Monday. |
| On Sunday, Syrian or Russian aircraft targeted an underground hospital in an opposition area north of Hama. Reports from the city said that no one had been killed in the attack on the hospital which is tunnelled into the side of a mountain, but powerful bombs, possibly bunker-busters designed to destroy buried or hardened targets, wrecked the emergency ward, brought down interior ceilings, crumbled cement walls and destroyed generators. | |
| “The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities. This is not a decision that was taken lightly,” the state department spokesman, John Kirby, said, referring to the truce agreed by US and Russia on 9 September which collapsed in less than a week, after Bashar al-Assad’s government forces declared they were not long bound by it. | “The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities. This is not a decision that was taken lightly,” the state department spokesman, John Kirby, said, referring to the truce agreed by US and Russia on 9 September which collapsed in less than a week, after Bashar al-Assad’s government forces declared they were not long bound by it. |
| Kirby said Russia had “failed to live up to its own commitments” and failed to rein in its ally, Assad’s regime in Damascus. | |
| “Rather, Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course, inconsistent with the cessation of hostilities, as demonstrated by their intensified attacks against civilian areas, targeting of critical infrastructure such as hospitals, and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need,” Kirby added, and singled out a 19 September attack on a UN aid convoy to a rebel-held area in the Aleppo countryside, in which British and US officials have alleged Russian aircraft took part. | “Rather, Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course, inconsistent with the cessation of hostilities, as demonstrated by their intensified attacks against civilian areas, targeting of critical infrastructure such as hospitals, and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need,” Kirby added, and singled out a 19 September attack on a UN aid convoy to a rebel-held area in the Aleppo countryside, in which British and US officials have alleged Russian aircraft took part. |
| Under the 9 September truce deal, Russian and US diplomats in Geneva would have coordinated implementation. The American diplomats have now been recalled. The US also declared it was calling back military officials who had been deployed to take part in a “joint implementation centre”. If the ceasefire had lasted a week, the US-Russian centre would have planned and coordinated an air campaign targeting Isis and JFS, which both countries agree are terrorist groups. | Under the 9 September truce deal, Russian and US diplomats in Geneva would have coordinated implementation. The American diplomats have now been recalled. The US also declared it was calling back military officials who had been deployed to take part in a “joint implementation centre”. If the ceasefire had lasted a week, the US-Russian centre would have planned and coordinated an air campaign targeting Isis and JFS, which both countries agree are terrorist groups. |
| However, Kirby said that military coordination with Russia would continue, “to ensure the safety of our respective military personnel and enable the fight against Daesh [Isis]”. | |
| Before the state department announcement on Monday, a Russian deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov, said even those military exchanges had dried up. | |
| “All contacts between the military have been stopped of late, there has been no exchange of information,” Gatilov said. | “All contacts between the military have been stopped of late, there has been no exchange of information,” Gatilov said. |
| Moscow has blamed US-backed Syrian opposition groups for failure to separate themselves from JFS on front lines and for flouting the truce with attacks on Syrian army positions. | Moscow has blamed US-backed Syrian opposition groups for failure to separate themselves from JFS on front lines and for flouting the truce with attacks on Syrian army positions. |
| Also on Monday, Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was pulling out of a 2000 arms control deal with the US under which both countries were supposed to reduce their stocks of weapons-grade plutonium. Putin had complained earlier this year that the US had not been keeping its end of the bargain, after work fell behind on a plant that had been designed to convert US plutonium to fuel for nuclear power stations. However, announcing his decision yesterday, the Kremlin blamed “unfriendly acts” by the US. | Also on Monday, Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was pulling out of a 2000 arms control deal with the US under which both countries were supposed to reduce their stocks of weapons-grade plutonium. Putin had complained earlier this year that the US had not been keeping its end of the bargain, after work fell behind on a plant that had been designed to convert US plutonium to fuel for nuclear power stations. However, announcing his decision yesterday, the Kremlin blamed “unfriendly acts” by the US. |
| As conditions for returning to the treaty, Moscow said the US would have lift sanctions imposed on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, pay compensation for those sanctions, and to reduce US troop presence in eastern Europe to its level in 2000. | As conditions for returning to the treaty, Moscow said the US would have lift sanctions imposed on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, pay compensation for those sanctions, and to reduce US troop presence in eastern Europe to its level in 2000. |