Russia wants countries with direct influence on the Syrian conflict to take part in talks on a new ceasefire, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told CNN on Wednesday.
Such talks would come at a time when Moscow faces mounting pressure over the deaths of civilians in the Syrian military’s Russian-backed assault on the Syrian city of Aleppo.
The meeting should include Russia, the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and possibly Qatar, Lavrov told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in Moscow.
“We would like to have a meeting in this narrow format, to have a businesslike discussion, not another General Assembly-like debate,” he said, referring to the UN General Assembly.
It’s unclear what the US position is on the talks.
Lavrov said he hoped the discussion might “launch a serious dialogue on the basis of the principles contained in the Russian-American deal,” the ceasefire agreement that collapsed last month.
That deal was broadly welcomed, he said, but never really got started.
Lavrov: Americans violated Syria ceasefire
Questioned by Amanpour, Lavrov pointed the finger at the United States for the failure of the deal.
“The violation of the ceasefire happened by the American coalition who attacked the Syrian government, which they were not supposed to do, and which they said they would never plan,” he said.
The days-long deal crumbled after a strike by US-led coalition warplanes on a Syrian army post killed dozens of troops. The US military did not dispute the strike but characterized it as “unintentional” and relayed its “regret” to Syria through Russia, saying the intended target had been ISIS.
Shortly after the ceasefire ended, a UN-Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy was hit in an airstrike, killing about 20 people. US officials blamed Russia, while Moscow denied that Russian or Syrian warplanes were responsible.
Lavrov: Terrorists must leave Aleppo
Lavrov also suggested the United States had not wanted to fulfill its commitment under the ceasefire deal to separate extremist fighters from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly al Nusra Front, from moderate rebel factions in rebel-held eastern Aleppo.
“I don’t want to suspect them of encouraging terrorism, but what they do as regards Nusra makes me very, very suspicious,” he said.
President Bashar al-Assad and Russia insist they are only targeting terrorists in Syria. Western diplomats have accused them of war crimes because of their disregard for civilian life in their assault on Aleppo.
Asked if Russia feared being on the wrong side of history over Aleppo, Lavrov responded: “It’s exactly the 250,000 civilians about whom we think — we say, if it takes getting a couple of thousand terrorists out of the city to save a quarter of a million lives, then let’s do it.”
Russia backs a proposal by Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, for fighters from the former al Nusra Front to leave the city, Lavrov said.
De Mistura appealed last week to Russia and the Syrian regime to end the assault on Aleppo, saying: “Look me in the eyes, are you really ready to continue this level of fighting, using those type of weapons, and destroy eastern Aleppo with 275,000 people, for the sake of killing 900 al Nusra fighters?”
Airstrikes kill at least 25
At least 25 people were killed and 45 injured in airstrikes Wednesday on the besieged rebel-held neighborhoods of eastern Aleppo, according to the Syria Civil Defense volunteer group, also known as the White Helmets.
On Tuesday, 41 people were killed in renewed airstrikes on east Aleppo after six days of relative calm.