Russia has proposed a 1 March ceasefire in Syria, according to US officials, but Washington countered with demands for the fighting to stop immediately. Peace talks on Syria are supposed to resume by 25 February. Washington officials speaking anonymously to the Associated Press painted the 1 March ceasefire proposal as an attempt by Moscow to give itself and the Syrian government three more weeks to try to crush moderate rebel groups.
The US officials weren’t authorised to speak publicly about private diplomatic discussions in the run-up to the Munich conference and demanded anonymity, the Associated Press said. One said the US could not accept Russia’s offer because opposition forces could suffer irreversible losses in northern and southern Syria in the meantime.
The talk of new ceasefire plans comes as the US, Russia and more than a dozen other countries meet in Munich to try to halt five years of civil war. The conflict has killed more than a quarter of a million people, created Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since the second world war and allowed the Islamic State terrorist group to carve out its own territory across parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
Russia says it is supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government as part of a counterterrorism campaign. But the west says the majority of its strikes are targeting moderate groups that are opposed to Assad and Isis.
No comments:
Post a Comment