iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The Syrian military declared on Monday that the U.S.-Russia brokered cease-fire is over, according to a statement posted online.
The military blamed rebel groups for violating the agreement, which was in its seventh day.
But U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking to reporters in New York City, disputed the notion that the cease-fire had ended and redirected his frustrations towards the Russians.
“We have not had seven days of calm and delivery of humanitarian goods, and so — it’d be good if they didn’t talk first to the press, but if they talked to the people who are actually negotiating this,” Kerry said. “And I think it’s, as I said yesterday, time to end the grandstanding and time to do the real work of delivering on the humanitarian goods that are necessary for access. So we just began today to see real movement of humanitarian goods, and let’s see where we are, and we’re happy to have a good conversation with them about how to proceed.”
Kerry is in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly where world leaders will discuss the world’s refugee crisis in a large part caused by the five-year Syrian war.
Prior to Monday’s declaration by the Syrian military, the cease-fire was already on shaky ground with reports of violations on both sides.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the besieged city of Aleppo was hit by at least four airstrikes on Sunday. The group also reported that convoys carrying humanitarian aid shipments had not received permission to enter the city that desperately needs them. Aleppo is home to nearly two million people who lack regular access to water and electricity. An estimated 250,000 to 275,000 people live in areas held by anti-government rebels that have been a focus of intense airstrikes and artillery bombardment.
Additionally, on Saturday, the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS halted an airstrike in eastern Syria that the Russian Defense Ministry said killed 62 Syrian government soldiers and injured 100.
A U.S. defense official told ABC News that the strike was supposed to target a collection of vehicles and personnel believed to belong to ISIS. The airstrike was halted after Russia communicated to the coalition that it was Syrian forces that were being struck. On Monday, the Australian Department of Defense disclosed that its aircraft had participated in the airstrike.
A senior Obama administration official told ABC News that the U.S. had “relayed our regret” to the Syrian government through Russian officials.
The cease-fire must be renewed every 48 hours. The last extension occurred on Friday.
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