The U.S. State Department announced Monday it had suspended bilateral talks with Russia over the failed cease-fire in Syria’s five-year-old civil war, saying Moscow had “failed to live up to its own commitments.”
The cessation of talks was announced amid worsening diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow, and just after aid groups said their hospitals have been apparently directly targeted by a Russian-led bombing campaign. Activists have blamed the Russian government for 9,000 deaths in the last year.
In a statement, spokesman John Kirby said “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, including through the September 19 attack on a humanitarian aid convoy.”
The U.S. and Russia had negotiated a short-lived and largely unsuccessful cease-fire that included a military coordination deal.
As part of the suspension, the U.S. is withdrawing personnel that it had dispatched to take part in the creation of a joint U.S.-Russia center.
That center was to have coordinated military cooperation and intelligence if the cease-fire had taken hold. The suspension will not affect communications between the two countries aimed at de-conflicting counter-terrorism operations in Syria.
The cessation of talks was announced amid worsening diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow, and just after aid groups said their hospitals have been apparently directly targeted by a Russian-led bombing campaign. Activists have blamed the Russian government for 9,000 deaths in the last year.
In a statement, spokesman John Kirby said “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, including through the September 19 attack on a humanitarian aid convoy.”
The U.S. and Russia had negotiated a short-lived and largely unsuccessful cease-fire that included a military coordination deal.
As part of the suspension, the U.S. is withdrawing personnel that it had dispatched to take part in the creation of a joint U.S.-Russia center.
That center was to have coordinated military cooperation and intelligence if the cease-fire had taken hold. The suspension will not affect communications between the two countries aimed at de-conflicting counter-terrorism operations in Syria.
