US secretary of state had delayed departure to Switzerland while seeking to narrow differences between Washington and Moscow on proposed truce

John Kerry has arrived in Geneva for Syrian peace talks on Friday with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, the US state department has said.



Lavrov arrived at the talks venue in Geneva on Thursday, and held a one-hour meeting with the UN peace envoy, Staffan de Mistura.

But Kerry delayed his departure, seeking to narrow differences between Washington and Moscow on the details of the proposed truce before flying across the Atlantic. Just a few hours before the state department announcement of Kerry’s departure, spokesman Mark Toner said that remaining gaps on “technical” issues meant it was “not worth his while to go have a meeting”.

State department officials would not comment on the change of mind, and it was not clear whether the differences had been fully resolved or Kerry had decided his presence in Switzerland would help clinch a final deal.

Prospect of fresh US-Russia talks renews hopes for Syria ceasefire Read more

It is believed that the peace plan would start with a ceasefire around Aleppo and a withdrawal of forces from key routes into the besieged city, leading to an end to the Syrian regime’s airstrikes and a joint US-Russia campaign against groups both countries designate as terrorist.

US officials said on Wednesday the last differences to be resolved included delineating territory between Jabhat Fateh al-Sham formerly the Nusra front, a former al-Qaida affiliate – which both Moscow and Washington agree is a terrorist organisation and a legitimate target – and other opposition groups, on which they differ. A European diplomat said on Thursday, that there was just a single remaining substantive issue dividing US and Russian governments but it is not clear whether that involved Nusra positions or another subject.

In an account of the evolving Kerry-Lavrov ceasefire plan sent to Syrian opposition groups on 3 September, the US Syrian envoy, Michael Ratney, said it was very difficult to hold these talks with the Russians when they were “killing Syrians daily”.

In a translation of the four-page letter published by the Al-Monitor news website, Ratney, described the main points of the ceasefire deal: “That Russia will prevent regime planes from flying, and this means that there will not be bombing by the regime of areas controlled by the opposition, regardless of who is present in the area … In return, we offer Russia coordination from our side to weaken al-Qaeda in Syria. This coordination includes an understanding that there will not be bombings by the regime or random bombings by Russia.”



As a condition for the ceasefire coming into force, regime forces would have to withdraw from a key route into Aleppo, the Castello Road, and end fighting along another, the Ramouseh Road, allowing humanitarian aid to enter the city, as well as “ending all offensive attacks and operations in all parts of the country”.

Rebel forces would also pull back from the Castello Road and abide by the truce.

Once the truce was in force for a week, the US and Russia would “will begin steps to completely prevent regime planes from flying and to weaken al-Qaeda in Syria”.