No deal yet on Syria for Russia, US

Washington and Moscow have “achieved clarity” on the way towards a new ceasefire in Syria, but technical details must still be resolved, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday.

“Today I can say that we achieved clarity on the path forward” for a revamped cessation to the fighting, Kerry told reporters alongside his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov after marathon talks.

Lavrov added that “substantial agreements had been reached” while noting that “some things need to be finalized.”

Kerry stressed that the two sides were not prepared to make a definitive announcement, but said US and Russian technical experts would continue to meet in Geneva in the coming days to hammer out a set of unresolved issues.

“We are working on those issues,” Washington’s top envoy said. “Neither of us is (ready) to make an announcement that is predicated by failure - we don’t want to have a deal for the sake of a deal.”

Kerry linked the near total collapse of a previous ceasefire agreed earlier this year to the failure to respond to violations and the Syrian regime’s efforts to reclaim strategic territory, including around Damascus.