This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Munich • Hopes of securing a temporary truce in Syria within a week dimmed Saturday as Syrian government forces tightened the noose around rebel-held parts of Aleppo, and Russia's foreign minister put the chances of a quick truce at less than 50 percent. His comments and strong words from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry underscored deep U.S.-Russian disagreements over Syria.

Further complicating the picture, Turkey's foreign minister said his country and Saudi Arabia may launch ground operations against the Islamic State in Syria, Turkish media reported Saturday.

Diplomats from countries with interests in Syria's five-year civil war — including the United States, Russia, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia — agreed Friday to work toward a temporary "cessation of hostilities" within a week. They also agreed to "accelerate and expand" deliveries of humanitarian aid to besieged Syrian communities beginning this week.

The truce deal in Munich came as Syrian government forces, aided by a Russian bombing campaign, are trying to encircle rebels in Aleppo, the country's largest city, and cut off their supply route to Turkey.

Speaking Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, pressed to say how confident he is that a "cessation of hostilities" will be implemented within a week, replied: "49" out of 100 percent. He indicated that Russia remains deeply suspicious of U.S. intentions.

Lavrov said everyday military cooperation between the U.S. and Russia in particular is "the key tool" to ensuring the delivery of humanitarian supplies and an end to hostilities in Syria. But he complained that coordination hasn't gone beyond an agreement to avoid in-air accidents.

"If we are moving closer to practical goals of a truce, then without cooperation between the military nothing will work out," Lavrov said.

Lavrov said comments by U.S. officials raised the impression that their aim was to stop Russia's military operation in Syria while the U.S.-led coalition's continues — "although we are fighting the very same…organizations which the U.N. Security Council has designated as terrorist organizations."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who negotiated the deal with Lavrov and others, said after Lavrov's pessimistic assessment about the proposed truce that "We will, we will make it work."

Still, Kerry's address earlier Saturday to the Munich conference underscored the persistent tensions between Russia and the West over Syria. He repeated allegations that Russian airstrikes in Syria have not been directed at terrorists but rather at moderate opposition groups supported by the U.S. and its European and Arab partners. Kerry also said Russia would have to change tactics if the agreement for a temporary truce in Syria is to actually take effect in the planned time frame.

"To date, the vast majority, in our opinion, of Russia's attacks have been against legitimate opposition groups. And to adhere to the agreement it made, we think it is critical that Russia's targeting change," Kerry said. "If people who want to be part of the conversation are being bombed, we're not going to have much of a process." The opposition "may be pushed back here and there, but they are not going to surrender," he said.

Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, was quoted in the Yeni Safak newspaper Saturday as saying that "Turkey and Saudi Arabia may launch an operation from the land" against the Islamic State, which holds a swath of Syrian territory.

Saudi Arabia is "ready to send both jets and troops" to Turkey's Incirlik air base, Cavusoglu was quoted as saying.