Kerry Says US to Seek Long-Term Solution to Aleppo Crisis in Meeting With Russia

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Aleppo during their bilateral meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

"Tomorrow, I will have a team from America under president Obama's direction be in Geneva together with the Russians, and we will, I hope, come to some kind of an arrangement where we can see how civilians might be protected," Kerry stated on Friday. "My hope and my goal in all of this is not just to have a temporary thing, but to get both sides, all the parties to the table in Geneva."

The situation in Aleppo has been seriously deteriorating over the recent months. Thousands of citizens are believed to be trapped in the terrorist-besieged eastern parts of the city with no access to food or water. There have been several attempts to establish a ceasefire, however, the bids have failed.

The Syrian civil war is ongoing since March 2011, with different countries, regional powers and terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State and Jabhat Fatah al Sham (formerly known as Nusra Front) fighting the Syrian Army in order to topple the legitimate government of President Bashar Assad.