WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — The past week’s military offensive in Aleppo underscores the "tragedy" of the failed ceasefire that the United States and Russia brokered as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, Blinken said.
"It is really tragic that the agreement we worked so hard to achieve, that could have produced a way forward…has been fatally undermined by the actions of the [Syrian] regime and Russia," Blinken said on Thursday.
His comments follow US Secretary John Kerry’s threat on Wednesday to cut off bilateral engagement with Russia on Syria, following the failure of the September 9 ceasefire.
Moscow has pointed to the September 17 US airstrike on a Syrian Army position in the eastern part of the country as a breakdown point in the latest ceasefire.
Last week, UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura blamed both, the United States and Russia, for failing to deliver on their commitments under the September 9 ceasefire.
De Mistura claimed Russia was unable to ensure humanitarian access to government-held areas, and the United States was unable to disentangle the armed opposition from al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front.
