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Russia and US launch bid to halt fighting in Aleppo

Aleppo - 'Freeze' in Eastern Ghouta extended by another 24 hours

 Russia said on Sunday it was working to freeze fighting in Syria's Aleppo as US Secretary of State John Kerry was due in Geneva in a bid to restore a nationwide ceasefire.
More than a week of fighting in Syria's second city has killed several hundred civilians and left a UN-backed peace process hanging by a thread.
Concern has been growing that the fighting in Aleppo will lead to the complete collapse of a landmark ceasefire between President Bashar Al Assad's regime and non-militant rebels that was brokered by Moscow and Washington.
On Saturday Moscow said it would not urge Assad's forces to halt air raids on the war-ravaged city as they were targeting militant groups not covered by the ceasefire, which took effect in late February.
But on Sunday, after Washington called on Russia to push its Syrian ally to end the strikes, the head of Moscow's coordination centre in Syria said talks on a freeze had begun.
"Currently active negotiations are underway to establish a 'regime of silence' in Aleppo province," Lieutenant General Sergei Kuralenko was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
He said that a freeze in fighting in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, had been extended by another 24 hours to the end of Sunday and that another freeze was holding in northern Latakia province.
"We are calling on all sides interested in establishing peace in Syria to support the Russian-American initiative and not to allow a regime of silence to be disrupted," Kuralenko said, speaking from Russia's Hmeimim air base in Syria.
Kerry was due to arrive in Geneva later on Sunday for talks with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura and the Saudi and Jordanian foreign ministers on reviving the ceasefire. In calls to De Mistura and the lead Syrian opposition negotiator on Saturday, Kerry expressed "deep concern" about Aleppo, which has suffered some of the worst fighting in a war that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.
Kerry made clear that ending the violence in Aleppo and returning ultimately to a durable, nationwide ceasefire was a top priority, spokesman John Kirby said.
The secretary made clear that we urged Russia to take steps to stop regime violations"
At least 253 civilians - including 49 children - have died in shelling, rocket fire and air strikes in both sides of the divided city since April 22, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
The provincial capital's rebel-held east was eerily quiet after days of bombing on Sunday.