agencies
U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, has arrived in Geneva today for a new round of talks with Russia on a Syrian ceasefire.
Senior State Department officials briefing reporters played down the prospect of a final breakthrough with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today. They said, however, steady progress had been made in recent weeks. Kerry’s meeting with Lavrov will be their third in two weeks and they have spoken several times by telephone to try to narrow their differences on a Syrian peace plan.
The United States and Russia have backed opposite sides in Syria’s civil war. Moscow supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Washington supports the opposition.