 "Russian military says it's ready to talk to US about Aleppo")
The Russian military said today it's ready to resume contacts with its US counterparts over the situation in Syria, even as US Secretary of State John Kerry threatened to cut all cooperation with Moscow on Syria unless an onslaught on Aleppo ends.
Lt Gen Viktor Poznikhir of the military's General Staff said today that Russian experts are ready to travel to Geneva to restart consultations with the US to "search for possible ways of normalising the situation in Aleppo."
A US-Russian truce in Syria has collapsed and the Syrian government forces backed by Russian warplanes have launched an attempt to take control of the rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo.
Kerry said Wednesday the US is preparing to "suspend US-Russia bilateral engagement on Syria," including talks on a possible counter-extremist partnership, unless Russian and Syrian government attacks on Aleppo end.
More than 250 people are believed to have been killed in the besieged city in the last week. Poznikhir didn't make any reference to Kerry's statement, saying only that Russia was ready to continue discussions.
"It's expected that Russian experts will be sent to Geneva shortly to resume consultations with the American side," he said. "We hope that American partners are also ready for joint work."
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The US-Russian deal brokered September 9 envisaged cooperation between the two militaries against the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda's branch in Syria if the declared cease-fire held, but it collapsed amid renewed fighting and mutual acrimony.
The US blamed Russia for an attack on a humanitarian convoy outside Aleppo, accusations Moscow has denied. Poznikhir said the Russian military got new information about Syrian rebels' involvement in the attack on the convoy, but he didn't offer any details.
Like other Russian officials before him, he has blamed the rebels for the collapse of the truce, adding that an increasing number of Syrian opposition units have integrated with al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria.
He also alleged that the militants are preparing to strike sections of Aleppo with chemical weapons to heap the blame on the government.
"It has become known to us that terrorist groups are preparing to strike Syrian army positions and residential quarters in the eastern part of Aleppo with projectiles loaded with toxic agents as a provocation, in order to put the blame on the government forces," he said.