New York - Members of the ISSG met this morning in New York City to take measure of the situation in Syria.

They agreed that, despite continued violence, there was still an imperative to pursue a nationwide cessation of hostilities based on the arrangement reached last week in Geneva between the United States and Russia.

Secretary Kerry condemned the airstrikes conducted yesterday, which killed aid workers attempting to deliver food, water and medicine to besieged areas of Aleppo. He and the other ministers expressed their condolences for the loss of innocent life and reaffirmed the absolute necessity of establishing immediately the unimpeded, safe and sustained flow of access for humanitarian supplies.

The members also discussed the importance of continuing to put pressure on the terrorist groups Da'esh and Al Nusra, while recognizing the difficulties of separating al Nusra from the moderate opposition in some areas of the country. They emphasized, in this context, the imperative of ending indiscriminate aerial bombardment of civilians, which is exploited by terrorist groups. And they stressed the absolute criticality of creating the conditions necessary to resume UN-led political talks in coming weeks.

Finally, they agreed to meet again later in the week to discuss next steps.