Another ‘critical’ day for Aleppo as Kerry seeks path to calm in Syria

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has opened a second day of talks in Geneva aimed at finding a way to restore at least a partial truce in Syria amid continuing attacks in Aleppo. Kerry met on Monday Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and planned to meet later the U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura. Kerry said progress was being made toward an understanding on how to reduce the violence in Aleppo but that more work was needed. Al-Jubeir called the situation in Aleppo with continued airstrikes an “outrage” and a criminal violation of humanitarian law.

There is only one side that is flying airplanes, and that is Bashar al-Assad and his allies, so they are responsible for the massacre of women, children, and the elderly.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir

He said that Syrian President Bashar Assad would be held accountable for the attacks and would be removed from power either through a political process or by force. Kerry’s meetings in Geneva come a day after the Syrian military extended a cease-fire around the capital for another 24 hours and relative calm set in across much of the country apart from Aleppo, the country’s largest city and a key battleground in the civil war. For Aleppo, the U.S. is considering drawing up with the Russians a detailed map that would lay out “safe zones”. Civilians and members of moderate opposition groups covered by the truce could find shelter from persistent attacks by Assad’s military, which claims to be targeting terrorists.

They are responsible for the murder of doctors and medical personnel, and this situation, any way you slice it, will not stand.

Adel al-Jubeir

Aleppo Kerry