US, Russia propose Syria ceasefire, prisoner exchange

The United States and Russia discussed the possibility of a ceasefire in Syria in the run-up to proposed talks in Geneva this month between the Syrian regime and the opposition, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday after talks with his Russian counterpart. Russia and the US also discussed a potential prisoner exchange between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition and improving humanitarian access to people trapped by the fighting, he said. Speaking in Paris, Kerry said the ceasefire could be "localized," possibly in Aleppo. "It's time for the Syrian people to be able to chart a future for themselves," he said at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Lakhdar Brahimi, the international mediator in the Syrian conflict.