Syria talks should not rest on halt in Aleppo fighting: Russia

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia warned on Tuesday that the next round of Syria peace talks should not be contingent on a halt to fighting in Aleppo after U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura told the U.N. Security Council he aims to reconvene negotiations in late August. Speaking after a closed door meeting of the 15-member council, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters: "The lower the level of violence the better it is for the talks... but there must be no preconditions for the talks." Insurgents effectively broke a month-long government siege of eastern, opposition-held Aleppo on Saturday, severing the primary government supply corridor and raising the prospect that government-held western Aleppo might become besieged.

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