Syrian Military Says US-Russian Brokered Cease-Fire Over

Sep 19, 2016

The Syrian military declared today that the U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire is over, according to a statement posted online. The military blamed rebel groups for violating the agreement, which was in its seventh day. But U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking to reporters in New York City, disputed the notion that the cease-fire had ended and redirected his frustrations toward the Russians.

"We have not had seven days of calm and delivery of humanitarian goods, and so it'd be good if they didn't talk first to the press but if they talked to the people who are actually negotiating this," Kerry said. "And I think it's — as I said yesterday — time to end the grandstanding and time to do the real work of delivering on the humanitarian goods that are necessary for access. So we just began today to see real movement of humanitarian goods, and let's see where we are, and we're happy to have a good conversation with them about how to proceed."

In a statement, State Department spokesman John Kirby stressed that the U.S. was waiting to hear from Russia on the current state of the cease-fire. "While we have seen comments attributed to the Syrian military, our arrangement is with Russia, which is responsible for the Syrian regime's compliance, so we expect Russia to clarify their position," he said.

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