Syria's chief opposition coordinator Riad Hijab said on Tuesday that international efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Syria's civil war were doomed without any credible mechanism to designate blame or attribute consequences.

• September 20, 2016

Moscow stepped up its war of words with Washington on Sunday, saying air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition on the Syrian army threatened the implementation of a U.S.-Russian ceasefire plan for Syria and bordered on connivance with Islamic State.

• September 18, 2016

Ukraine is doing less than Russia to meet its obligations under the Minsk peace plan, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday, stepping up calls for the European Union to end sanctions against Moscow.

• September 17, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he hoped the United States would stick to its commitments on Syria, adding that he believed securing a truce in that country's conflict was the common goal of both Moscow and Washington.

• September 17, 2016

The chief of the Russian army's general staff, Valery Gerasimov, met his Turkish counterpart in Ankara on Thursday for "very productive" talks on military cooperation and Syria, Turkish officials said, reflecting a recent warming of ties.

• September 15, 2016

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday sought to diffuse criticism of a U.S.-Russian ceasefire agreement on Syria arguing that without it violence would increase significantly with many more Syrians slaughtered or forced to flee the war-torn country.

• September 14, 2016

Germany's foreign minister said a recent attempt at a ceasefire between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists offers a "sliver of hope" and that he sees scope for further moves towards a lasting peace next week.

• September 14, 2016

A nationwide ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia came into effect in Syria on Monday evening, the second attempt this year by Washington and Moscow to halt the five-year-old civil war.

• September 12, 2016