World Bulletin / News Desk

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday the Syrian regime's "indiscriminate bombing" of Aleppo amounted to crimes against humanity and war crimes and called on its backers Russia to try to stop it.

"The indiscriminate bombing by the regime violates rules of law, or in many cases, crimes against humanity, and war crimes," Kerry said after a meeting of Western powers and Syrian opposition representatives in Paris and he called for Russia to "do their utmost to bring it to a close".

The Syrian opposition is willing to resume negotiations with Bashar al-Assad's regime "without pre-conditions", France's foreign minister said after talks between Western powers and opposition representatives in Paris on Saturday.

"We need to tie down the conditions for a genuine political transition, and negotiations must resume on a clear basis within the framework of the UN resolution" Jean-Marc Ayrault added, referring to a roadmap for ending the five-year-old Syria war.