US-Russia negotiations fail to restore Syria truce

forge a comprehensive agreement on stepping up cooperation to end the brutal war that has killed hundreds of thousands.

After meeting off-and-on for nearly 10 hours in Geneva on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov could point to only incremental progress in filling in details of a broad understanding to boost joint efforts that was reached last month in Moscow.

Their failure to reach an overall deal highlighted the increasingly com- plex situation on the ground in Syria — including new Russian-backed Syrian government attacks on opposition forces, the intermingling of some of those opposition forces with an al-Qaida affiliate not covered by the truce and the surrender of a rebel-held suburb of Damascus — as well as deep divisions and mistrust dividing Washington and Moscow.

The complexities have also grown with the increasing internationalization of what has largely become a proxy war between regional and world powers, highlighted by a move by Turkish troops across the Syrian border against Islamic State fighters this week.

Kerry said he and Lavrov had agreed on the “vast majority” of technical discussions on steps to reinstate a cease-fire and improve humanitarian access. But critical points remain unresolved and experts will stay in Geneva with an eye toward finalizing those in the coming days, he said.

“We are close,” Kerry said. “But we are not going to rush to an agreement until it satisfies fully the needs of the Syrian people.”