US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged a return to a nationwide ceasefire in Syria.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged a return to a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, deeming it a top priority, and called for attacks on civilians to stop immediately, his spokesman said Saturday.
The top diplomat -- due to travel to Geneva Sunday for urgent talks on the conflict -- also expressed "deep concern" about the situation in Syria's divided city of Aleppo, where terrified residents fled a new wave of regime air strikes on rebel-held areas.
"The secretary made clear that ending the violence in Aleppo and returning ultimately to a durable, nationwide cessation is a top priority," spokesman John Kirby said in outlining phone calls between Kerry and the UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, as well as the general coordinator of Syria's main opposition High Negotiations Committee, Riad Hijab.
Kerry made the calls over the past two days, Kirby said.
"The secretary expressed his deep concern about the deteriorating situation in Aleppo, where the ... regime (of President Bashar al-Assad) continues to escalate the conflict by predominantly targeting innocent civilians and parties to the cessation of hostilities -- not Nusra, as the regime falsely claims," Kirby said in a statement.
"Such attacks are direct violations of the cessation and must stop immediately."
Aleppo was left out of a new temporary US-Russian brokered truce that appeared to be holding in the regime stronghold of Latakia, as well as Damascus and the nearby rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta.
Russia, a key backer of Assad, said that it would not ask Damascus to halt air raids on Aleppo.
In his phone calls, "the secretary made clear that we urged Russia to take steps to stop regime violations, especially its indiscriminate aerial attacks in Aleppo," Kirby said.
Once Syria's economic hub, Aleppo and its surrounding countryside have suffered some of the worst fighting in a conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.
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