Syria's opposition alliance has slammed Moscow, saying Russia cannot enforce a truce and continue airstrikes. The opposition's remarks come as NATO said Moscow's involvement in the conflict prevents peace.
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The High Negotiations Committee (HNC), a Saudi-backed alliance of Syrian opposition groups, said on Friday that the "current conditions" of a ceasefire do not allow for peace talks to move forward.
"During the ceasefire, there were 90 airstrikes against 50 regions controlled by the moderate opposition," noted Riad Hijab, coordinator of the HCN, during a press conference following talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.
"Current conditions in the country are not ripe for a resumption of negotiations," said Hijab. "No aid has entered the besieged areas and detainees have not been released."
He added that Russia could not be "responsible for the suffering of the Syrian people, and in control of enforcing the truce."
Riad's statement comes on the heels of reports that airstrikes hit a rebel-held area near Damascus.
Meanwhile, NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said Russia is jeopardizing the ceasefire it helped broker with the US.
"As Russia has provided greater levels of military support for President Bashar al-Assad - including bombing moderate opposition groups, and driving tens of thousands of civilians from Aleppo and other cities - it has made it even more difficult to find a long-term end to the violence and a negotiated peace and political transition," Vershbow said at an annual conference in Krakow, Poland.
Russia joined the five-year conflict in September 2015, when it launched airstrikes on targets said to have been the self-styled "Islamic State" militant group. However, opposition groups and human rights organizations have said Moscow also targeted rebels fighting to oust al-Assad.
On Thursday, UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said he set March 9 as the date for peace talks between the al-Assad regime and opposition groups to resume.
However, the HNC's Hijab said the alliance has yet to decide on whether it will be participating.
Friday also marked a day of protests across several rebel-held areas in Syria under the banner: "The revolution continues."
More than 270,000 people have died since the conflict erupted in March 2011, when government forces violently cracked down on peaceful protesters calling for al-Assad to step down.
How the Syrian civil war began - and gave 'Islamic State' room to grow
Although the emergence of "IS" prompted international intervention in Syria, the jihadist group entered the conflict late in the game. DW examines how the war created space for this terrorist group to expand.
Image: AP
The "Arab Spring" effect
In 2011, as regimes crumble across the region, tens of thousands of Syrians take to the streets to protest against corruption, high unemployment and soaring food prices. The Syrian government responds with live ammunition, claiming some 400 lives by May.
Image: dapd
Condemnation without consensus
At the urging of Western countries, the UN Security Council condemns the violent crackdown. The EU and US implement an arms embargo, visa bans and asset freezes in the months that follow. With the backing of the Arab League, calls eventually grow for the Syrian president's departure. But not all UN members agree with this demand.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Szenes
Assad refuses to back down
Bashar al-Assad - who has been in power since the death of his father in 2000 - sees his reputation wane with the continuing unrest. He refuses to end decades-long emergency rule, which allows for surveillance and interrogation. Russia backs its ally, supplying weapons and vetoing UN resolutions on Syria multiple times.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Badawi
The opposition gets organized
By the end of the year, human rights groups and the UN have evidence of human rights abuses. Civilians and military deserters are slowly beginning to organize themselves to fight back against government forces, which have been targeting dissidents. More than 5,000 have died so far in the fighting. It will take another six months before the UN acknowledges that a war is taking place on Syrian soil.
Image: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Outside intervention
In September 2012, Iran confirms that it has fighters on the ground in Syria - a fact long denied by Damascus. The presence of allied troops underscores the hesitance of the US and other Western powers to intervene in the conflict. The US, stung by failed interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, sees dialogue as the only reasonable solution.
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Fleeing the conflict
As the death toll nears 100,000, the number of refugees in neighboring countries - such as Turkey and Jordan - hits one million. That number will double by September 2013. The West and the Arab League have seen all attempts at a transitional government fail in the two years of war, watching as fighting spills over into Turkey and Lebanon. They fear Assad will stay in power by any means possible.
Image: Reuters/B. Khabieh
No united front against Assad
Assad has long claimed he's combatting terrorists. But it's not until the second year of war that the fragmented Free Syrian Army is definitely known to include radical extremists. The group Al-Nusra Front pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, further splintering the opposition.
Image: Reuters/A. Abdullah
From brute force to chemical warfare
In June 2013, the White House says it has evidence that Assad has been using sarin nerve gas on civilians - a report later backed by the UN. The discovery pushes US President Barack Obama and other Western leaders toward considering the use of military force. However, Russia's proposal to remove the chemical weapons ultimately wins out.
Image: Reuters
Islamic State emerges
Reports of a new jihadist group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) emerge in the final weeks of 2013. Taking land in northern Syria and Iraq, the group sparks infighting among the opposition, with some 500 dead by early 2014. The unexpected emergence of IS ultimately draws the US, France, Saudi Arabia and other nations into the war.
