France Peace Deal

It sounds far-fetched at best: holding a Mideast peace conference without Israelis, Palestinians or the incoming US government.

Countries sponsoring the Syria peace process met in Geneva today amid complaints that a new cessation of hostilities deal was quickly unravelling, with France demanding information about reports of persisting attacks on rebel positions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday slammed France's diplomatic plan for an international conference on Middle East peace with recognition of a Palestinian state if talks fail.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused France of "supporting terrorism" and said he saw Prague as a possible venue for signing any future peace deal to end his country's four-year civil war, in comments broadcast Monday on Czech TV.

The Kremlin's spokesman said on Friday talks in Paris on Ukraine between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany were "businesslike" and all sides reaffirmed their commitment to the Minsk peace process.

Foreign ministers from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France were set to gather today to try to revive a shaky ceasefire in east Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out an "apocalyptic scenario" of all-out war.

A ceasefire signed by Kiev and pro-Russian rebels after marathon talks between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France comes into force Sunday, the first step in a peace deal aimed at ending 10 months of conflict.

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed to meet in Belarus on Wednesday to try to broker a peace deal for Ukraine amid escalating violence there and signs of cracks in the transatlantic consensus on confronting Vladimir Putin.

Israel-Hamas fighting looked headed for escalation after US Secretary of State John Kerry failed Friday to broker a weeklong truce as a first step toward a broader deal and Israel's defense minister warned Israel might soon expand its Gaza ground operation "significantly."

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cancelled a scheduled trip to France and flew to Qatar on Friday to help efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a Turkish official said.

South Sudanese rebels and government negotiators will hold their first face-to-face talks on Sunday, after several days of delay, to thrash out a ceasefire deal and end weeks of ethnic fighting in the world's youngest state.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has dealt a blow to efforts for a peace conference, saying the time is not ripe, as Western and Arab powers prepared to meet today with the fractured opposition.

It sounds far-fetched at best: holding a Mideast peace conference without Israelis, Palestinians or the incoming US government.

Countries sponsoring the Syria peace process met in Geneva today amid complaints that a new cessation of hostilities deal was quickly unravelling, with France demanding information about reports of persisting attacks on rebel positions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday slammed France's diplomatic plan for an international conference on Middle East peace with recognition of a Palestinian state if talks fail.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused France of "supporting terrorism" and said he saw Prague as a possible venue for signing any future peace deal to end his country's four-year civil war, in comments broadcast Monday on Czech TV.

The Kremlin's spokesman said on Friday talks in Paris on Ukraine between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany were "businesslike" and all sides reaffirmed their commitment to the Minsk peace process.

Foreign ministers from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France were set to gather today to try to revive a shaky ceasefire in east Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out an "apocalyptic scenario" of all-out war.

A ceasefire signed by Kiev and pro-Russian rebels after marathon talks between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France comes into force Sunday, the first step in a peace deal aimed at ending 10 months of conflict.

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed to meet in Belarus on Wednesday to try to broker a peace deal for Ukraine amid escalating violence there and signs of cracks in the transatlantic consensus on confronting Vladimir Putin.

Israel-Hamas fighting looked headed for escalation after US Secretary of State John Kerry failed Friday to broker a weeklong truce as a first step toward a broader deal and Israel's defense minister warned Israel might soon expand its Gaza ground operation "significantly."

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cancelled a scheduled trip to France and flew to Qatar on Friday to help efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a Turkish official said.

South Sudanese rebels and government negotiators will hold their first face-to-face talks on Sunday, after several days of delay, to thrash out a ceasefire deal and end weeks of ethnic fighting in the world's youngest state.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has dealt a blow to efforts for a peace conference, saying the time is not ripe, as Western and Arab powers prepared to meet today with the fractured opposition.