US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov have said in Geneva that talks on a new Syria ceasefire deal have made progress.

Kerry said following marathon talks that the "vast majority" of technical obstacles had been agreed on, but some issues remained unresolved. Lavrov echoed Kerry's comments, adding that there had been hopes of a definitive ceasefire, or a new round of UN-brokered peace talks.

Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, stopped in during the meetings. He reportedly suggested carrying out humanitarian assistance through the UN, and bringing the Syrian parties to the negotiating table. Liu Xin reports from Geneva.

Now, the US top diplomat John Kerry said that...and the people who are breaking the cessation of hostilities will be held accountable so that a political process can be started.

"Now we may have different views about some of the causes for the problems, but the fact is we both are committed, I am convinced, to trying to find a way to get the cessation of hostilities to be more effective, to be fully implemented," John Kerry said.

For his part, the Russian foreign minister...the Kurds need to be part of the solution.

"I'm convinced that the Kurds should be entirely represented in this process. The Kurds must continue being part of the Syrian state," said Sergey Lavrov, Russian FM.