Obama says US to pursue campaign against IS ‘on all fronts’

“This is one of the conditions of an initiative agreed by the presidents of Russian Federation and the United States“, he added.

Jan Egeland, a special advisor to De Mistura, said that more than 180 trucks filled with aid had reached six areas under siege from different sides in the past two weeks.

Still, Mr. Obama said, Russia’s involvement and airstrikes in the region “have reinforced the Assad regime and made the humanitarian catastrophe even worse”. Indirect talks earlier this month quickly collapsed because of increased violence and a Russian-backed government offensive in Aleppo, near the Turkish border.

Turkey has shelled Kurdish forces in northern Syria, saying the army was responding to incoming fire.

President Putin’s spokesman rejected claims by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) that jets had attacked the rebel-held area of Douma on Thursday night.

23, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry testified that the White House was considering “plan B” options should Moscow fails to deliver on its part of the cessation of hostilities agreement.

Russian Federation began strikes in September, stating it would only target terrorists, but critics say it is also attacking Syria’s opposition groups and helping turn the tide of the civil war.

The Syrian government and the opposition, including almost 100 rebel groups, have said they will abide by the cease-fire despite serious skepticism about chances for success.

The American President has said the USA will do everything it can to make a truce in Syria succeed – despite significant concerns over whether the agreement will hold.

Critics say it is not clear exactly where along Syria’s complicated front lines the fighting would stop and where counterterrorism operations could continue.

Under the terms, Russia, whose warplanes have targeted non-ISIS and non-al Qaeda Syrian opposition groups, will halt those airstrikes. And we know it won’t dislodge Syrian President Bashar Assad, now emboldened by support from Vladimir Putin and Russia’s relentless bombing campaign.

Obama commented after a rare meeting at the State Department with some of his top national security advisers, who updated him on the parallel efforts to counter the Islamic State group and bring peace to Syria after years of civil strife.

The UN Security Council is expected to vote Friday, February 26 on a US-Russian draft resolution endorsing the Syria ceasefire, diplomats said. The Syrian army is slowly taking back the entire Islamic State-controlled Aleppo province, military sources said Friday.