Russian continued assault on Aleppo might lead US to snap ties with Russia over Syria

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday threatened to snap ties with Russia on the Syria negotiations in response to Russia's week long aerial assault on the besieged city of Aleppo.

Russia and the United States attempted to bring peace to the West Asian country by agreeing on  a cease-fire in the region, but the negotiations fell apart on account of the most persistent attacks carried out by the Russian and Syrian regime alliance in the five-year civil war.

According to a readout of phone conversation between Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this morning, provided by the State Department, Kerry expressed "grave concern" over the continued Russian-backed assault — including attacks on hospitals, water supplies and the use of devastating bunker buster bombs.

Kerry told Lavrov that "the United States is making preparations to suspend U.S.-Russia bilateral engagement on Syria — including on the establishment of the Joint Implementation Center — unless Russia takes immediate steps to end the assault on Aleppo and restore the cessation of hostilities," according to State Department spokesman John Kirby.

The Joint Implementation Center was to be established as a base for the U.S. and Russian military to coordinate strikes against extremist forces in Syria. But moving forward with the facility has always been contingent on a cessation of hostilities between the regime and the opposition forces.Instead of achieving peace and a military partnership, the cease-fire collapsed, leading to some of the worst violence seen in years.