奥巴马谴责俄叙对阿勒颇平民的野蛮空袭

U.S. President Barack Obama has strongly condemned the "barbarous Russian and Syrian regime airstrikes" on civilians in eastern Aleppo.

The White House says Obama spoke by telephone Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Both agreed that Russia and the Assad regime bear a "special responsibility" for stopping the fighting and letting humanitarian aid get in.

Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier the U.S. is "on the verge" of suspending diplomatic talks with Russia because of Moscow's continued bombing of rebels in eastern Aleppo.

A monitoring group said Friday Russian airstrikes across the country in the past year have killed more than 9,000 people, including many civilians. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said many more civilians were wounded by the airstrikes. In Aleppo itself, hundreds of thousands of civilians are stuck in the city. Half of them are children.

Kerry called it “irrational” to keep talking and “take things seriously” after the Russians vowed to continue the airstrikes. “It's one of those moments where we're going to have to pursue other alternatives for a period of time,” said Kerry. He added he is “extremely concerned” about the future of the Syrian people.

The United States is pushing Russia to pressure its close ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to honor a cease-fire and let U.N. relief convoys into Aleppo.

Russia and the Syrians say they are targeting "terrorists" -- their term for the rebels who want to topple the Syrian government.

But the U.S. says Russia and Syria are hitting hospitals, refugee camps and such critical sites as water and power plants. The U.S. says the bombs are indiscriminate and that the Russians make no effort to specifically hit their stated target -- Islamic State fighters.