Kerry arrives in Geneva for Syria talks with Russia

U.S Secretary of State John Kerry arrived early on Friday in Geneva, where he is due to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov about a ceasefire deal for Syria, after the State Department had been saying for the past 24 hours it did not believe a meeting was worthwhile.

Sergei Lavrov arrived already in the Swiss city, earlier on Thursday (September 8) evening, where he met with U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who has the diplomatic task of trying to end the five-year war, which has claimed an estimated 400,000 lives and driven tens of thousands of refugees into Europe.

The United States and Russia have backed opposite sides in Syria’s civil war, which shows little sign of ending after five and a half years of violence in which half the pre-war population has been uprooted. Moscow supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Washington believes must eventually go.

Under the plan being discussed by Kerry and Lavrov, a cessation of hostilities agreement would halt violence in areas where Syrian government forces and opposition fighters have been battling each other, opening up humanitarian aid corridors.