US calls for joint efforts with Russia

Top US diplomat John Kerry stressed the urgency of closer co-operation in Syria after the Kremlin said yesterday a US proposal for direct military cooperation in the war-torn country had not been addressed in earlier talks with President Vladimir Putin.

On the second and final day of his visit to Moscow, Kerry called for stepping up cooperation between the United States and Russia to thwart jihadist groups and revive the stalled Syria peace process, hours after at least 84 people were killed in an attack in Nice.

"Nowhere is there a greater hotbed and incubator for these terrorists than in Syria," Kerry said after observing a minute of silence in honour of the victims ahead of his talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"And I think people all over the world are looking to us and waiting for us to find a faster and more tangible way" to fight terrorism, Kerry said.

"And you and I and your teams are in the enviable position of actually being able to do something about it," he added, addressing Lavrov.

Kerry's meeting with Lavrov follows what the top US diplomat said were "serious and frank" talks with President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

But the Kremlin said yesterday that direct military cooperation between Moscow and Washington in Syria, a proposal Kerry was set to make, had not been addressed in Thursday's talks.

According to a leaked document seen by the Washington Post, Kerry's key proposal is to offer Russia closer US military cooperation against the Al-Nusra Front jihadist group.

In exchange, Moscow would be required to pressure its ally Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad to ground his own jets and end attacks on civilians and the moderate opposition.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that the talks between Putin and Kerry had not marked the start of cooperation "to significantly improve the effectiveness of efforts in the fight against terrorism."