U.S. once again forced to turn to Russia for help on Syria

GENEVA – Scrambling to resuscitate a nearly dead truce in Syria, the Obama administration has again been forced to turn to Russia for help, with little hope for the desired U.S. outcome.

At stake are thousands of lives and the fate of a feeble peace process essential to the fight against the Islamic State, and Secretary of State John Kerry has appealed once more to his Russian counterpart for assistance in containing and reducing the violence, particularly around city of Aleppo.

“We are talking directly to the Russians, even now,” Kerry said on his arrival in Geneva as he began talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. “The hope is we can make some progress, but the U.N. Security Council resolution calls for a full-country, countrywide, cessation and also for all of the country to be accessible to humanitarian assistance. Obviously, that hasn’t happened and isn’t happening.

“These are critical hours. We look for Russia’s cooperation. We obviously look for the regime to listen to Russia and to respond to the international communities’ powerful statement to the U.N. Security Council.”

Kerry spoke at length Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to that end, and had hoped to meet with him soon, according to U.S. officials.

In Geneva, Kerry met with Judeh and was to meet U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Monday before returning to Washington.

But Lavrov was not expected to be in Geneva, complicating Kerry’s efforts to make the case directly to the Russians for more pressure on their Syrian government allies to stop or at least limit attacks in Aleppo.

The State Department said Kerry, in his meetings, would “review ongoing efforts to reaffirm the cessation of hostilities nationwide in Syria, obtain the full humanitarian access to which the Syrian government committed and support a political transition.”

Viable options to achieve those broad goals are limited, and Friday’s announcement of a new, partial cease-fire that doesn’t include Aleppo underscored the difficulty Kerry faced.

U.S. and other officials described that initiative, brokered mainly by Russia and the U.S. as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, as a “reinforcement” of the February truce, now largely in tatters, they hope to extend from Damascus and the capital’s suburbs and the coastal province of Latakia to other areas.