Daily Times

NEW YORK: French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime for undermining the ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and the United States, and said the agreement must be salvaged “at all costs.”

“We must not forget that it is the (Syrian) regime, and it is always the regime, which has jeopardized the US-Russian ceasefire,” said Ayrault in New York.

The faltering US-Russian deal for Syria is set to dominate the agenda as world leaders gather at the United Nations this week for the annual General Assembly meeting.

“If there is one thing that must emerge from the General Assembly meeting it is hope for peace in Syria “, Ayrault said on a ceremony held to commemorate the September 11 attacks.

After months of negotiations, the United States and Russia reached an agreement for a ceasefire.

A ceasefire that had been in force for nearly a week, was on the brink of collapsing when rebel-held districts of Aleppo came under a barrage of air strikes.

Russia, Syria’s main ally, accused the United States of endangering the deal after a US-led coalition strike that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers in the east.

A UN Security Council meeting held late on Saturday saw the US and Russian envoys trading barbs following the airstrike, for which the United States has expressed regret.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are due on Wednesday to attend a special Security Council meeting on Syria.