France to push Russia, US on new Syria deal
October 6, 2016, 9:05 am

Can Ayrault bring Moscow and Washington back to the table over Syria? [Xinhua]

Ayrault will then fly to Washington to do the same with Secretary of State John Kerry.

The French diplomat is on a mission to convince both Moscow and Washington to sign on to a new peace initiative from Paris to pass a Security Council resolution that will once again end the hostilities and pave the way for humanitarian assistance to hundreds of thousands of desperate Syrians in the besieged city of Aleppo.

Ayrault’s diplomatic shuttle comes as the heated rhetoric and war of words between Moscow and Washington intensifies.

Late on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry has said that rhetoric coming from Washington about suspending talks over Syria and other diplomatic cooperation should not be taken seriously.

Both Moscow and Washington have blamed each other for the collapse of the Syrian ceasefire and both have accused each other of issuing ultimatums to shift focus from their responsibilities to end the conflict.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova says she just doesn’t listen any more to what Washington says about the state of relations with Moscow.

“They’re going through a difficult moment, namely, the election,” she said during an interview with Russian media on Wednesday.

She said that the US election has fueled some of the hostile rhetoric against Russia.

On October 3, the US State Department said it was “suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the Cessation of Hostilities”.

It blamed Russia for failing to follow through on its commitments to ensure the ceasefire would hold – a charge reiterated by Kremlin officials against the US.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies