The Hill, Feb 3, 2016– The Obama administration is blaming Russian airstrikes for halting United Nations peace talks aimed at ending the five-year Syrian civil war.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said that Moscow’s continued bombing of rebels and attacks on supply routes in Syria was partly responsible for the breakdown in negotiations.
 “They are hitting almost exclusively opposition targets, and we are continuing to see reports of civilian casualties as a result of these strikes,”  Kirby said.
He added that the Russian strikes are “not anywhere near” focused on hitting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Kirby’s comments came after U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura announced a three-week pause in the talks, which only started last Friday.
The Wednesday announcement is a blow to international efforts to end the Syrian conflict that has already led to more than 250,000 dead.
The talks struggled to get off the ground last week, and were delayed by disagreements over the makeup of groups that should be represented.
The U.S. has consistently criticized Russia’s efforts in Syria since it entered the fray last year. The White House has accused Moscow of targeting opposition groups in order to prop up Assad, its regional ally instead of taking out anti-Western groups like ISIS.
Reports out of Syria on Wednesday indicated that Russia airplanes launched hundreds of air strikes against opposition forces on the edge of Aleppo.