Aleppo bombed as US and Russia plan Syria talks
BEIRUT — An airstrike near the site of a suspected gas attack in Syria killed at least 10 civilians Wednesday, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed to meet this week for extended discussions on ending the 5-year-old civil war.
Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has been conducting airstrikes to bolster his forces for nearly a year. The United States supports rebels fighting to overthrow Assad and has called on him to step down.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to negotiate a settlement on the sidelines of the G-20 conference in China on Monday. Obama acknowledged “gaps of trust” between the rival powers following months of negotiations between their top diplomats.
But the Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov and Kerry would meet Thursday and Friday in Geneva to work out the remaining details of a possible deal, following a phone call between the two.