Russia sending more warplanes to Syria as US says diplomacy is wavering

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Russia is sending more warplanes to Syria to increase its air campaign there, a Russian newspaper reported, as the United States said that diplomacy to halt the violence was “on life support but it's not flat-lined yet.”

The fighting in rebel-held eastern Aleppo has continued to intensify for a week, with a Russian–backed Syrian offensive to recapture the stronghold of rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad and Moscow rejected a ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia on September 12 and have been carrying out attacks on rebel-controlled parts of Aleppo, including an attack Saturday on the main M10 hospital – the second in four days.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov again discussed how to normalize the situation in Aleppo and agreed that a solution must be reached.

The United States on Wednesday threatened to halt diplomacy over Syria if the Russian bombing did not stop, but on Friday US officials said they are holding off on that threat for now.

"This is on life support, but it's not flat-lined yet," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters about the fragile diplomacy to end the fighting in Syria. "We have seen enough that we don't want to definitively close the door yet," he added.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Izvestia newspaper reported Friday that Moscow is sending more Su-24 and Su-25 warplanes to the Hmeymim airbase in Syria, and also has its Sukhoi Su-25s ready for deployment in Syria for the first time.

The twin-engine Su-25, which can be used to bomb or strafe targets on the ground, was used in the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.