Kerry takes aim at Russian Federation over Ukraine and Syria

The Russian Prime Minister’s comments came after his French counterpart, Manuel Valls, warned Moscow that to acquire peace in Syria, it must stop bombing civilians.

U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, gestures during his speech at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. “What we need to see in the next few days are actions on the ground”.

On Sunday the Kremlin issued a statement saying that the phone call was at Washington’s initiative, and that the two leaders agreed to “intensify cooperation through diplomatic agencies and other entities” to implement an agreement reached in Munich to determine the technicalities of a Syria cease-fire.

“The accord of last night … can permit progress if it leads to a ceasefire, if it leads to general humanitarian access and if it includes the stop of the indiscriminate bombing by the Syrian regime and by Russia“, Le Drian told a security conference in Munich.

“We are not in a cold-war situation, but also not in the partnership that we established at the end of the Cold War”, Stoltenberg said. He rejected the widely held belief that Russian planes had hit civilian targets in Syria. Russian Federation says the airstrikes it began on September 30 are aimed at extremist groups, but there are wide claims from the West that Russian Federation is targeting rebels fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a longtime Moscow ally.

Government troops have been advancing under cover of intense Russian air strikes with the aim of besieging rebel-held parts of Aleppo.

“I would like to see a single day of a cessation of hostilities in order to give a chance for real political movement”, said Hijab. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation chief Jens Stoltenberg said in the same conference that Russia used force on both occasions, but the alliance wants an improved communication with President Putin and the rest of Russian officials.

On Saturday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia would send war planes to the Turkish air base of Incirlik, from where they would attack militants in Syria from the so-called Islamic State.

Mr Cavusoglu also said it was possible that troops from his country and Saudi Arabia might participate in a ground operation against IS forces.

The cessation of hostilities agreement falls short of a formal ceasefire, since it was not signed by the warring parties – the government and rebels seeking to topple Assad in the five-year-long war that has killed 250,000 people.