United Nations, September 20 (RHC)-- The United States, Russia and other key players involved in the Syria peace process are meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Twenty foreign ministers from the so-called International Syria Support Group prepared to meet after Damascus announced the end of a recently implemented truce in the country on Monday.
Following numerous breaches of the ceasefire, principally by the United States, Damascus announced the conclusion of the ceasefire, saying the accord was continuously violated by terrorists and their supporters in Washington.
The truce aimed to allow humanitarian access and joint attacks against militant groups, which were not covered by the agreement, including Daesh and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.
On Monday, Russia criticized the U.S. for not doing enough to rein in militants in Syria to protect the deal, saying continued violations of the ceasefire by militants made it “senseless” for Damascus to stick to the agreement.
In response, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that Russia should have first consulted Washington before publicly declaring the ceasefire "pointless."
Russian officials said Monday that monitors in Syria had registered 53 ceasefire violations across the country over the past 24 hours. The Russian Defense Ministry said there had been reports that elements from the so-called moderate Syrian opposition were merging with terrorists to carry out large-scale attacks against government forces.