US-Russia plan 'may be Syria's final chance'

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gestures during a press conference to discuss the crisis in Syria, in Geneva. Pic/AP

Washington: US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Syria's warring parties to observe a US-Russian brokered ceasefire and warned it could be the last chance to save the country. Kerry said the truce must hold to salvage any hope of a political settlement to end the war.

"For all the doubts that remain - and there will be challenges - this plan has a chance to work. We believe the only realistic and possible solution to the conflict is ultimately a political outcome," Kerry said, calling for a return to UN-mediated peace talks. "And I urge all the parties to support it because it may be the last chance that one has to save a united Syria."

Kerry and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced Friday they had agreed on a plan to impose a cessation of hostilities across Syria, where more than 290,000 people have been killed since 2011.

Russia is to pressure its ally Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to obey the truce, while the United States will urge the rebel groups it supports to refrain from attacks. Two jihadist groups - the Islamic State group and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al Nusra Front - are excluded from the truce and will continue to face air strikes.