Russia asked to show willingness to salvage ceasefire efforts

Washington, Sep 25 (IANS) The Foreign Ministers of Germany, France, Italy, Britain, the European Union (EU) and the US have asked Russia to "prove it is willing" to salvage efforts to reach a ceasefire in Syria.

In a joint statement issued on Saturday after a meeting at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford, Massachusetts, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his European counterparts claimed Russian support was crucial for "unfettered humanitarian assistance" to reach Syrians, and to "create the conditions" to resume UN-brokered talks for a political transition in the country, EFE news reported.

"The burden is on Russia to prove it is willing and able to take extraordinary steps to salvage diplomatic efforts to restore a cessation of hostilities," the countries said in the statement.

They warned their "patience with Russia’s continued inability or unwillingness to adhere to its commitments is not unlimited."

The statement also urged the UN Security Council to adopt fresh and urgent measures to address the brutality of the ongoing strife in Syria, particularly the continuous bombing of the city of Aleppo.

They said the Syrian regime’s public denouncement of the ceasefire, continued reports of the regime using chemical weapons and its unacceptable offensive in eastern Aleppo "supported by Russia, blatantly contradicts Russia’s claim that it supports a diplomatic resolution."

They also condemned this week’s bombing of a humanitarian convoy in Syria as ‘outrageous’ and called on Moscow to take "extraordinary steps" to restore the credibility of peace efforts, especially by ceasing Bashar al-Assad regime’s "indiscriminate bombing" of its own citizens, which undermines efforts to bring the war to an end.

Reiterating their pledge to wipe out the Islamic State from Syria as well as Iraq or Big Four European powers France, Germany, Italy and Britain, as well as the EU representative, pressed Russia to "follow through on its pledge to actually focus on this group" as part of its military intervention in the region.

Earlier, Russia and the US failed to renew the ceasefire that had been in effect in Syria for a week until Monday.