Discussions held on Saturday in the Swiss city of Lausanne failed to come up with a joint statement or a ceasefire agreement on the long-drawn-out Syrian conflict.
The talks were led by US secretary of state John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
The ministerial talks were conducted in the presence of Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and other ministers from countries that have a direct influence in Syria, including Jordan and Turkey.
The talks concluded with no suggested vision for a ceasefire and came a week after the UN security council failed to adopt a peace resolution for Syria.
The Russian foreign ministry released a statement on Sunday saying that all parties are committed to preserving Syria as an “integral, independent, and secular state”. The statement added that, during the meeting, Russia said the “terrorist opposition known as Al-Nusra Front” should be separated to renew the ceasefire agreement; it also said that the operations against them will be continued.
The Russian side prioritises the separation of terrorist groups in Syria, whereas the US prioritises the ceasefire and access of humanitarian aid.
Kerry told reporters following the talks that there were a number of options suggested that may lead to a ceasefire; however, he also said that there were some “tense moments” during the talks.
Reuters cited Kerry as saying that, despite these tense moments, the talks were “very candid”. According to Russian news agency Sputnik, the Turkish foreign minister said in an interview following the talks that the ministers informally exchanged points of view but there was no consensus.
The political turmoil in Syria has been ongoing since 2011; Russia is backing Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad and has conducted airstrikes and aerial bombardments that have led to the death of thousands. However, the US is backing the opposition. Several solutions were suggested by the UN security council and several ceasefire agreements were reached but none of them were implemented.
