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Conflict in Syria

Steinmeier: Events in Syria show need for urgent meeting of International Support Group

Earlier, the German Foreign Ministry said a session of the International Syria Support Group co-chaired by the foreign ministers of Russia and the US is expected in New York on Tuesday

BERLIN, September 20./TASS/. Developments unfolding over the last few days in Syria necessitate an emergency meeting of the International Syria Support Group, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a video link from New York during a conference of historians in Hamburg.

"Yesterday’s refusal by the Syrian authorities to continue a ceasefire that has just been achieved is a sad event," the diplomat stated.

The international community "has so far failed to put an end to this bloody conflict," he said. "Moreover, we see that the spiral of violence is unwinding faster and faster, while the results achieved are being derailed," he said.

Earlier, the German Foreign Ministry said a session of the International Syria Support Group co-chaired by the foreign ministers of Russia and the US, Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry, is expected in New York on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who held thirteen-hours-long talks in Geneva on September 10, coordinated a package of five documents called upon to bring about a ceasefire in Syria and to lay down the foundations of a resumption of the political process.

The truce took effect on September 12, but the Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly drawn attention to repeated ceasefire violations by the opposition.

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said the unilateral observance of a ceasefire by Syria’s government forces is senseless amidst the ongoing shelling by militants.

"Taking into account the fact that militants are not observing the cessation of hostilities regime, we believe its unilateral observance by Syrian government forces is senseless," Sergei Rudskoi, Chief of the Russian General Staff’s operations directorate said.

According to the ministry, within the last week Russian and Syrian warplanes have not delivered strikes on areas coordinated within the framework of the Geneva agreements.

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