John Kerry says what is happening in Syria’s Aleppo is “war crimes”

France 24 – Western powers on Saturday urged the Syrian regime and Russia to let civilians leave east Aleppo as air strikes targeted the last remaining rebels there, with US Secretary of State John Kerry saying the “indiscriminate” bombing amounts to war crimes.

Saturday saw a new round of diplomacy on Syria as foreign ministers from the Western and Arab backers of Syria’s opposition discussed Aleppo’s plight in Paris while US and Russian officials convened on the same issue in Geneva.

Kerry said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Aleppo amounted to war crimes and called on his Russian backers to intervene.

“The indiscriminate bombing by the regime violates rules of law or, in many cases, crimes against humanity and war crimes,” Kerry told reporters after the meeting in Paris. He called for Russian authorities to “do their utmost to bring it to a close”.

“Russia and Assad have a moment where they are in a dominant position to show a little grace,” Kerry said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that although no agreement had been reached at the Paris meeting, the Syrian opposition did announce that it was willing to resume the talks without conditions.