Reuters, Washington :
The United States and Russia continue to make “headway” in talks on advancing cooperation to ease the Syria conflict, but haven’t reached a final deal yet, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.
“We are continuing those discussions. We continue to make headway. We’re not quite there yet,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will hold talks in Geneva on Friday focusing on the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, both sides said.
The two men also discussed Syria by phone on Wednesday, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
U.S. and Russian officials, whose countries back opposite sides in the five-year Syrian war, have been meeting to agree on military cooperation in the fight against their common enemy there, the Islamic State militant group.
Kerry said earlier this week the talks were nearing an end, with technical teams still meeting to discuss details.
Earlier, a U.S. official said that Kerry, who was in Abuja, Nigeria, would meet Lavrov in Geneva on Aug. 26 to discuss the conflict in Syria and the Ukraine crisis.
The Russian foreign ministry said the two men discussed Syria on Wednesday, “including the situation around Aleppo where the (Syrian) government forces, with the support of the Russian military, have been carrying a humanitarian operation.”
No progress has been reported on a 48-hour humanitarian pause sought by the United Nations in Aleppo to allow aid deliveries and evacuation of wounded from the divided city of 2 million that lacks food and water.
Russia also said that the two ministers had talked about the need to separate “Washington-oriented” Syrian opposition groups from the “terrorist groups” that are not covered by a regularly broken ceasefire.
Syrian Kurdish fighters must return to the east of the Euphrates river or Turkey will “do what is necessary”, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday, after Turkish forces launched an operation in northern Syria.
Turkish special forces, tanks and jets backed by warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition launched an operation into northern Syria on Wednesday to try to wipe Islamic State militants from the border and prevent further gains by Kurdish fighters.
Cavusoglu, who was speaking in Ankara, also said that no one would be brought in from the outside and settled in the Syrian town of Jarablus, the border town held by Islamic State that Turkey is targeting in the operation.
The United States and Russia continue to make “headway” in talks on advancing cooperation to ease the Syria conflict, but haven’t reached a final deal yet, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.
“We are continuing those discussions. We continue to make headway. We’re not quite there yet,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will hold talks in Geneva on Friday focusing on the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, both sides said.
The two men also discussed Syria by phone on Wednesday, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
U.S. and Russian officials, whose countries back opposite sides in the five-year Syrian war, have been meeting to agree on military cooperation in the fight against their common enemy there, the Islamic State militant group.
Kerry said earlier this week the talks were nearing an end, with technical teams still meeting to discuss details.
Earlier, a U.S. official said that Kerry, who was in Abuja, Nigeria, would meet Lavrov in Geneva on Aug. 26 to discuss the conflict in Syria and the Ukraine crisis.
The Russian foreign ministry said the two men discussed Syria on Wednesday, “including the situation around Aleppo where the (Syrian) government forces, with the support of the Russian military, have been carrying a humanitarian operation.”
No progress has been reported on a 48-hour humanitarian pause sought by the United Nations in Aleppo to allow aid deliveries and evacuation of wounded from the divided city of 2 million that lacks food and water.
Russia also said that the two ministers had talked about the need to separate “Washington-oriented” Syrian opposition groups from the “terrorist groups” that are not covered by a regularly broken ceasefire.
Syrian Kurdish fighters must return to the east of the Euphrates river or Turkey will “do what is necessary”, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday, after Turkish forces launched an operation in northern Syria.
Turkish special forces, tanks and jets backed by warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition launched an operation into northern Syria on Wednesday to try to wipe Islamic State militants from the border and prevent further gains by Kurdish fighters.
Cavusoglu, who was speaking in Ankara, also said that no one would be brought in from the outside and settled in the Syrian town of Jarablus, the border town held by Islamic State that Turkey is targeting in the operation.
