WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States and Russia will try again to stop Syria’s civil war and forge a new counterterrorism partnership when their top diplomats meet next week in Geneva, U.S. officials said Thursday.
Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will gather on Aug. 26, with the talks possibly lasting for two days. At the meeting, officials said, the sides will try to secure a cease-fire between Syria’s government and rebels and a new U.S.-Russian arrangement to share intelligence and coordinate military to defeat the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.
The diplomacy comes amid fierce fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and new Russian bombing operations in Syria originating from an Iranian air base.
Russia and Iran have backed Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government in its five-year conflict against opposition groups that range from Islamist extremist groups such as the Nusra Front, an al-Qaida spinoff, to forces purporting to support a secular, inclusive country. The U.S. supports what it calls the “moderate” opposition.
Despite sharp differences in their interpretations of the conflict, the former Cold War foes have been weighing a partnership against their mutual enemies: IS and al-Qaida.