Russia says talks are taking place to include Syria’s Aleppo province in the latest temporary truce – as once again the diplomatic machine cranks into gear, shaken by a series of bombings.

Saturday saw a ninth day of deadly bombardments in the city. A foreign-based monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said at least five people were killed in what are believed to have been government airstrikes on rebel-held districts.

Two-thirds of the estimated 250 civilian casualties in nine days of bombing are thought to have died in government airstrikes.

“At present, there is an active negotiation process taking place to establish a regime of calm also in Aleppo province,” Interfax news agency cited General Sergei Kuralenko, in charge of Russia’s ceasefire monitoring centre in Syria, as saying.

Moscow said on Saturday that it would not ask its ally Damascus to stop the bombing.

With US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva on Sunday for more talks, Washington has accuse