Meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) started on Tuesday in Vienna with the participation of 20 states and organizations.

Meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) started on Tuesday in Vienna with the participation of 20 states and organizations.

US and Russia are exerting efforts on Tuesday to  stabilize a Syrian ceasefire and restart stalled peace talks face an uphill struggle in Vienna as the external powers most deeply involved in the crisis try to narrow their differences.

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, and Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, are co-chairing a meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) on Tuesday morning in an attempt to patch up an agreement reached in February on a cessation of hostilities and expedite the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas.

As well as the UK, France, the EU and the Arab League, the 17-member group includes Saudi Arabia,Turkey and Iran.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy overseeing the indirect negotiations, is also in the Austrian capital seeking support for a new round to keep the diplomatic route open.

Moscow and Washington are the co-chairmen of the ISSG’s ceasefire taskforce, based in Geneva.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that the ISSG meeting is an opportunity to underline the need for completely respecting the Syrian ceasefire and paying due attention to the threat imposed by terrorist groups on Syria, region and entire world.

Despite efforts made by certain terrorist groups and their regional and international sponsors, it should be stressed in the Vienna conference that Syrian crisis has no military solution, Zarif told reporters in Vienna.

Kerry, who was involved in talks on Libya on Monday, spent the weekend in Jeddah. The Guardian considers Kerry move as an apparent effort to persuade the Saudis to ensure that the Riyadh-backed opposition go along with the latest diplomatic effort, despite them having walked out of the last round of Geneva talks.

According to the timetable laid down in the first Vienna talks last autumn, the transition is supposed to begin by August. If it does not, Saudi Arabia has hinted that it may provide heavier weapons to anti-government insurgents.