France: We’ll keep fighting for new cease-fire deal in Syria

France’s foreign minister says he will be disappointed but not discouraged if an agreement isn’t reached in New York on a new cease-fire in Syria, insisting: “We will continue to fight.”

Given the “impasse” in U.S.-Russia negotiations, Jean-Marc Ayrault vowed to fight for France’s proposal to create a cease-fire oversight mechanism involving a large number of countries that would be chaired by a U.N. representative.

He told a news conference Friday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting that he keeps asking Russia and Iran whether they favour a military or political solution.

“Every time, they respond to me that it’s the political solution,” Ayrault said. “But to have trust in that we need to look at the acts — and the acts are military ones up until now.”