Syria ceasefire not dead: Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday insisted that hopes for a ceasefire in Syria remain alive, after meeting with Russia and key powers with a stake in the civil war.

In brief remarks to reporters as he left a New York hotel after a meeting of the International Syria Support Group, Kerry said talks would reconvene later this week. “The ceasefire is not dead,” Kerry insisted, a day after the Syrian military declared a week-old truce over and launched new bombardments on rebel held cities.

The United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura confirmed that there was still hope of reviving the ceasefire, but admitted that delegates agreed it was in danger.

The 23-nation ISSG, chaired by Kerry and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The talks were brief and, participants said, tense. “The mood is that nobody wants to give this thing up,” Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said.