Syria Situation Report: October 13 - 20, 2016
October 20, 2016 - Chris Kozak![](https://understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumb-wide/public/Oct20%20EDITS%20COT-01_0.png?itok=TKJsuGCB)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with counterparts from Russia, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan, and Egypt in Lausanne, Switzerland on October 15 to open a new multilateral initiative to end the Syrian Civil War. Meanwhile, Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu announced a temporary halt to pro-regime airstrikes in Eastern Aleppo City on October 18 in preparation for a series of three consecutive eleven-hour ‘humanitarian pauses’ scheduled for October 20 - 22.