Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart had a tense conversation about the Syria cease-fire agreement Friday, trading accusations that each side was failing to live up to the terms of the agreement.
Kerry faulted the Russians and Syrian President Bashar Assad for failing to allow humanitarian aid to reach U.S.-backed rebel groups. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov countered that the U.S.-backed groups haven’t complied with the cease-fire and accused the U.S. of trying to protect terrorists from Russian airstrikes.
“Secretary Kerry expressed concerns about the repeated and unacceptable delays of humanitarian aid, and emphasized that the United States expects Russia to use its influence on the Assad regime to allow U.N. humanitarian convoys to reach Aleppo and other areas in need,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a readout of Kerry’s phone call with Lavrov.
That’s a key requirement of the cease-fire deal. In exchange, Kerry’s team is pressuring those groups to stop attacking Assad and, if the pact holds in the short term, the United States will coordinate with Russia, which is protecting Assad, to destroy Assad’s jihadist enemies.
“The secretary made clear that the United States will not establish the Joint Implementation Center with Russia unless and until the agreed terms for humanitarian access are met,” Kirby said.
That refusal to begin military coordination marks a stiffening on the part of the State Department. Kerry’s spokesman has suggested that the United States might continue implementing the deal even if the Russians and Assad fail to allow full humanitarian access.
The humanitarian aid is significant because it allows the U.S. to re-supply some of Assad’s opponents in exchange for helping Russia and Syria destroy the Islamic State and an al Qaeda affiliate called al-Nusrah.
The Russians might not accept Kerry’s demand. Lavrov has already accused the United States of letting opposition groups violate the cease-fire. On Friday, he accused the U.S. of trying to protect terrorists from Russian airstrikes — a claim made in public and during the phone call with Kerry, according to state-sponsored Russian media.
“[S]omeone in Washington [might be] trying to shield terrorists from being targeted,” Lavrov said. “Not long ago, the Americans at last sent us a list of organizations which they consider to be part of the cease-fire and which should not be targeted … It seems the Americans are listing a part of a terrorist structure, which is recognized as such by the U.N., as an organization loyal to them.”
