From the standpoint of powerlessness

Russia outwitted the United States in negotiations on Syria, said US Secretary of State John Kerry in an interview with representatives of the Syrian opposition. This was reported by He New York Times, at the disposal of which was an audio recording of the conversation by the UN General Assembly on September 22.

“The problem is that the Russians do not care about international law, but we are,” the publication quoted the Secretary of State asks.

At the same time, Kerry complained that diplomatic efforts were not backed up by a real threat of military force. He complained that his position does not find understanding in the administration of Barack Obama. According to him, there are only three or four people in the White House who defend the use of force. “And I lost the dispute,” said Kerry. “I advocated the use of strength, but everything turned out differently. We are trying to engage in diplomacy, and I understand that it is upset. No one is disappointed as we are.” He noted that Congress will never approve the use of force.

The US Secretary of State also invited representatives of the opposition to take part in the elections together with the current president of the country Bashar al -Assad and join the transition government. “Anyone who is registered as a refugee anywhere in the world can vote. Will they vote for Assad? Assad is afraid of this,” Kerry said.

The representative of the State Department John Kirby refused to comment on the record, saying that it was a private conversation.

On Friday, a telephone conversation of Kerry and the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov took place. According to its results, the representative of the State Department Mark Toner said that the cooperation between the United States and Rosia in Syria remained at the same level. "We are in the same place. We definitely did not close the door, we definitely did not stop our diplomatic relations in Syria," Toner said. However, according to him, the United States is still on the verge of suspension of cooperation with Russia, since they did not see the desired actions from Moscow.

“There are other opportunities that we talked about here. Many of them are not very good. Therefore, before we finally slam the door, we need to be sure that we are aware of bets, and, more importantly, that Russia is aware of these bets,” Toner noted.

On Wednesday, the State Department announced the possibility of stopping cooperation with Russia in Syria if Moscow does not stop Aleppo's bombing and does not restore a broken truce. On the same day, Kerry called Lavrov and expressed “serious concern to the deterioration of the situation in Syria,” and also assigned responsibility for the current situation of things, accusing it, including in bombing of the city quarters with incendiary bombs.

On Thursday, the White House spokesman Josh Ernest said that diplomatic interaction with Russia in Syria did not work . “Since the beginning of our diplomatic interaction with Russia, our priority has been to reduce violence. It is obvious that this did not work,” said Ernest. “The situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, and this causes deep concern.”

"Assada mode uses a shameless strategy with the support of Russians," the press secretary emphasized. Ernest clarified that he meant the bombing of civilian infrastructure facilities, including hospitals, refugees camps "and even playgrounds."

Reuters, citing their sources, reported that the United States will be the full failure of the agreement on the termination of hostilities operating until September 19, and the new offensive of Assad for Aleppo with the support of Russian aviation.

Kerry said that the United States is close to terminating any negotiations with Russia regarding the fulfillment of an agreement on a temporary ceasefire in Syria. “We are on the verge of suspending negotiations, because in the context of the ongoing bombing it is pointless to sit here and try to seriously discuss this,” said Kerry. “This is one of those moments when we must search for other alternatives.”

Deputy Kerry Anthony Blinken said that Obama had already ordered that all national departments involved in the search for a decision on Syria make their proposals. According to him, American officials will do this in the coming days.