Syria peace talks end without agreement

Syria talks convened by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Saturday evening failed to agree on a common strategy with Russia to end the conflict in Syria, now in its sixth year.

Kerry was seeking a new path to peace after failing to secure a ceasefire in direct talks with Moscow, one of Syria's key backers, amid mounting international outrage over the Russian and Syrian bombardment of rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

The lacklustre result from the 4½-hour meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland highlighted the world’s inability to find a peaceful path out of a conflict that has killed as many as half a million people, contributed to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since the second world war, and created a vast space of instability that the Islamic State group has exploited.

Instead, the envoys said only that new ideas had been proposed and more discussions planned.

Kerry hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and seven foreign ministers from the region - from Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt - weeks after the collapse of a painstakingly crafted U.S.-Russian ceasefire plan that many saw as the last hope for peace this year.

Europe was not represented at the Lausanne meeting. But France's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Kerry and foreign ministers of like-minded nations planned to meet in London on Sunday to discuss Syria.

Kerry told reporters there was consensus on a number of options that could lead to a ceasefire, but conceded that there had been some tense moments during Saturday's talks.

“I would characterize this as an example of what we wanted, which was a brainstorming and a very candid first-time discussion," he said. "A number of ideas came from the number of different ministers as we hoped that might be able to shape some different approaches.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that all participants in the talks had agreed Syrians should decide their own future through inclusive dialogue and that the country should remain whole and secular, after the meeting ended without a breakthrough, Reuters reported.

The Russian foreign ministry said that in order for a U.S.-Russian ceasefire agreement to succeed and to facilitate humanitarian aid deliveries, Syria's moderate opposition must separate from Jabhat Fatah al Sham, previously known as the Nusra Front, and other "terrorist groups" affiliated with it.

With the Syrian and Russian governments pressing an offensive against rebel-held parts of Aleppo, no one predicted a breakthrough. Yet after last month’s collapse of a ceasefire and even US charges of Russian war crimes, the US secretary of state John Kerry’s portrayal of the result as “exactly what we wanted” sounded unconvincing.

Kerry said the discussion was driven by the “urgency of Aleppo, the urgency of trying to find something that works other than military action”. Ministers offered suggestions that “really might be able to shape some different approaches” he said, without going into detail.

No official news conference or joint statement followed the meeting. Kerry said contacts, but not necessarily a meeting, would start anew next week.

Days of deadly airstrikes in Aleppo prompted Kerry last month to end bilateral US-Russian engagement on Syria, including discussions over a proposed military alliance against Isis and al-Qaida-linked militants in Syria. Last week he accused Russia of war crimes for targeting hospitals and civilian infrastructure in Syria.

Western powers have accused Russia and Syria of committing atrocities by bombing hospitals, killing civilians and preventing medical evacuations in Syria's largest city Aleppo, as well as targeting an aid convoy with the loss of around 20 lives. Syria and Russia say they are only targeting militants.