More than a few weeks ago Kerry and Lavrov reached a deal in Geneva on Syria which the UN ratified.
The deal was what we would have expected, and an update of Feb/March's original agreement. Disappointingly it was a deal done without the moderate opposition being given the opportunity to take any role in it, despite the regime being able to agree to its terms through Russia.
The Syrian people were promised humanitarian aid access and the demilitarisation of the Castello road - which would have been be an extremely positive step - indeed the Americans described how the agreement could lead to an end of the siege of Aleppo.
We were also promised the grounding of Assad's Air Force in opposition areas. But as expected its area of operations was determined by the U.S.-Russia map which essentially maps all opposition areas as Nusra areas, and therefore open targets. Carte Blanche for Assad.
None of this has been delivered. The humanitarian situation is worse than ever before, the Assad regime continues to rain down barrel bombs, chemical weapons and missiles on civilians. There appears to be been no grounding of Assad aircraft. Aleppo remains besieged, and will be the greatest shame of our generation once the impact is finally fully understood by all those choosing to turn their cheek.
Kerry ended his press conference that day with a commitment to political transition - as did Lavrov. Will Assad be allowed to stand? Will the UN be allowed to convene and control them? In the last presidential election Assad secured something like 107% of the vote. Which given millions of Syrians have been forced to flee the country makes that statistic all the more incredulous. My questions are redundant, as we are no closer to the holding of elections, let alone credible ones overseen by the UN.
Russia has acted as Assad's protector and guarantor for over a year now, and their words have repeatedly failed to take any true meaning. The world is beginning to wake up to its games as we saw at the UN last week when Russia failed to secure the support it needed for its resolution on Syria - even China did not give its support, leaving Russia with only Venezuela behind it.
Russia has the power to use the significant influence it has over Assad, and has thus far chosen not to use. It has chosen not to force Assad to adhere to the agreements it makes on its behalf. Why not?
Russia has achieved what has always been its ultimate goal; an equal position to the U.S. in the world's eyes (or at least what it believes will be perceived as such). It wants desperately to be seen as a world power, equal to the U.S., shaping the future of nations and world security.
Ironically some of Lavrov's final words were that the crisis in Syria must not be used for political point scoring. Yet this was Russia's play.
For now I wonder how many civilians and aid workers have been slaughtered since that agreement was made, and how many hospitals have been bombed.
For now all I can do is continue to raise awareness of the situation in Syria; share the facts on the ground. I will continue to stand #WithSyria and use my voice until it is no more, because the Syrian people deserve this at the very least.
