“There’s been a lot of unhelpful rhetoric over the last couple days,” said Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “It hasn’t yet…derailed the process we're involved in with the Russians to seek a verifiable cessation of hostilities.”
Despite Dunford's comments, the week-old cease-fire appeared to be jeopardy Monday, as a U.N. aid convoy was hit while trying to deliver aid to civilians trapped in Syria's civil war, and the Syrian military said it was pulling out of the truce because of rebel attacks.
The State Department said it was "outraged" by reports that a humanitarian aid convoy was bombed near the Syrian city of Aleppo, but is prepared to extend the cease-fire if Russia pressures the Syrian government to abide by terms of the truce and ends a pattern of attacking aid convoys.
The Pentagon acknowledged that it halted an airstrike by coalition planes Saturday after Russia said the planes hit Syrian government forces, killing 62.
