US Negatively Affect Ties With Russia by Questioning Agreements on Syria

The United States inflicts further damage on bilateral relations with Russia by calling into question existing agreements on Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ryabkov told RIA Novosti the long path toward reaching a deal on a cessation of hostilities announced September 9 stemmed from the need to achieve "balance and parity suitable for all."

"Now these agreements are put into question by the US. It is their political choice. This reflects heightened 'warmongering' in Washington and among those willing to continue inflicting damage to bilateral relations with Russia," he said.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the US is prepared to suspend bilateral engagement with Russia in Syria unless Moscow takes immediate steps to end Syrian operations in the city of Aleppo and reinstate a ceasefire, according to the State Department.

Ryabkov argued the US was presenting an anti-Syria and Russia narrative after failing to live up to a series of its own obligations as part of the recently released agreements.

"This is in line with imposing unilateral approaches that has never been acceptable to us," he maintained. "There can be no concern here about the situation in Aleppo, about the humanitarian problems of the population and the tragedies that happen there every day… All this is pure politics and geopolitics."

Fighting in Aleppo intensified last week after the Syrian army declared an end to the week-long US-Russian brokered ceasefire, blaming militants for numerous violations that made the cessation of hostilities unfeasible.