Russian air strikes undermining Syria peace efforts, says NATO

NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday that Russia’s air strikes in Syria targeting rebel forces are “undermining” efforts to find a non-military solution to the war.

“What we have seen is that the intense Russian air strikes mainly targeting opposition groups in Syria are undermining the efforts to find a political solution to the conflict,” Stoltenberg said as he arrived for talks in Amsterdam with EU defence ministers.

Syrian peace talks in Geneva earlier this week broke up acrimoniously as long-time Moscow ally President Bashar al-Assad launched a fresh offensive against rebel forces in Aleppo with massive Russian backing.

The UN Security Council is due to meet later on Friday to discuss the situation, with the negotiations on hold until February 25.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he had warned Moscow to stop targeting the Syrian opposition in what he described as a “robust” phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Stoltenberg said NATO strongly supported efforts to end the war in Syria, which has cost more than 250,000 lives and displaced half the population, many of them fleeing to Europe in its worst migrant crisis since World War II.