US Secretary of State flies to Geneva for urgent meeting on Syria situation

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva on May 2 to attend an urgent meeting to discuss a ceasefire agreement in Syria.

The crisis in Syria continues to be the focus of international public attention after a series of bloody attacks that killed and injured hundreds of people occurred in the city of Aleppo, northern Syria in recent days.

US Secretary of State John Kerry. Photo AP

The presence of Mr. John Kerry at the emergency meeting, which took place a week before the United Nations held a new round of peace talks on Syria in Geneva, showed the seriousness of the current situation in Syria.

According to the plan, on May 2, Mr. Kerry will meet with the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, and the Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia and Jordan about the ceasefire agreement and the political transition process in Syria to end the conflict that has lasted more than 5 years in this country.

According to the US Secretary of State, his top priority during this visit to Geneva is to end the violence in Aleppo city, in close cooperation with Russia.

Speaking to reporters ahead of his meeting with Jordan's Foreign Minister, Mr. Kerry emphasized: "I hope that in the dialogue that I will conduct in Geneva today and tomorrow, we will focus on promoting a ceasefire in Syria. We seek cooperation with Russia and we hope that the Syrian government will respond to the international community's desire to end the violence in Syria."

Fighting in Aleppo, the city considered the economic center of northern Syria, has become the focus of world public opinion in recent days. Fierce fighting has been going on here since April 22, threatening to break the ceasefire agreement in the area.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in just the past 10 days, more than 250 people, including children, have been killed in airstrikes, shelling and missile attacks by both the Syrian government army and opposition forces.

Given the severity of the situation in Syria, the US and Russia are planning to establish a temporary ceasefire mechanism in the city of Aleppo. According to information from the Russian Ministry of Defense, the US and Russia are currently promoting negotiations to achieve this goal.

Despite acknowledging that the conflict in Aleppo is unacceptable and worrying, Russia and the US have so far been unable to reach a ceasefire agreement in the region.

Pope Francis on May 1 also called on the parties involved in Syria to respect the ceasefire agreement that took effect on February 27. The United Nations also called on Russia and the United States to help restore the ceasefire in Syria, preventing the risk of peace negotiations collapsing.

After two weeks of work, the latest round of Syria peace talks under the auspices of the United Nations ended on April 27 in Geneva. As planned, a new round of Syria peace talks under the auspices of the United Nations will begin on May 10, also in Geneva.

However, hopes for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Syria remain fragile as the negotiating parties remain sharply at odds over the political role of President Bashar al-Assad and the composition of the transitional government./.

According to VOV