"We have presented proposals to the Russian side designed to reinforce the cessation of hostilities in those areas northwest of Aleppo, but Moscow has not been responsive,” the official said.
On Monday, State Department spokesperson Mark Toner told reporters that United States is waiting for Russia’s response to US proposals on reinforcing the ceasefire in Syria.
Washington, the official noted, finds it “perplexing” that Russia and the Syrian government have failed to seriously pursue US ceasefire proposals.
“But the regime, sometimes with Russian support, is launching many attacks targeting opposition groups protected by the cessation of hostilities, including in the regions near Handarat and Hraytan in northwest Aleppo, [where] there is little Nusra presence and certainly no Nusra-controlled territory,” the official claimed.
Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Sputnik in an exclusive interview that the United States attempted to include a number of positions occupied by al-Nusra Front in the ceasefire. A charge the State Department subsequently denied.
On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that a total of five ceasefire violations were registered in Syria’s Damascus province over a 24-hour period, although the truce largely held. Russia’s reconciliation center in western Syria has claimed that the self-described "opposition" group Jaish al-Islam has continued shelling Syrian army positions in Arbil as well as the village of Harasta al-Bansal.
The ceasefire in Syria worked out by Russia and the United States took effect on February 27. The cessation of hostilities does not apply to terrorist organizations, such as Daesh and al-Nusra Front, outlawed in a number of countries worldwide including Russia and the United States.
