Kerry: Some Details of the New Ceasefire Plan in Syria Need to Be Clarified

John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, said on Friday after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the path forward for re-establishing a ceasefire in Syria has been outlined, but there are still disagreements over some details that need to be resolved. According to the Associated Press, after nearly 10 hours of negotiations between the U.S. and Russian foreign ministers in Geneva, Kerry stated, "Most technical and expert issues regarding the re-establishment of the ceasefire and access to humanitarian aid have been completed." He added, "I can say that the path forward was clearly outlined in today's discussions." However, the U.S. Secretary of State emphasized that both sides are not yet ready to definitively speak about a new agreement. Kerry said, "We will continue to work on the remaining issues. However, neither of us is ready to definitively talk about something that is expected to fail. We do not want to just talk about an agreement for the sake of saying we have done something." The U.S. Secretary of State also referred to the ceasefire plan that was reached earlier this year but was violated. He mentioned that experts from both countries will remain in Geneva to resolve the remaining issues in the coming days. In February, Russia and the U.S. agreed on a ceasefire plan in Syria, but this ceasefire was violated following clashes between Syrian government forces and opposition groups, especially due to escalating conflicts in Aleppo. The discussions on Friday between Kerry and Lavrov followed their previous talks in Moscow last month. According to Reuters, Russian and U.S. officials have been negotiating a plan for a ceasefire in Syria and defeating the Islamic State group since July. Earlier this week, Kerry stated that although expert negotiations continue, these talks are nearing completion.